Mechanical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by house flies

Parasites & Vectors

Table 2 Transmission study: Detection of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA and infectious virus in substrates, transfer containers and flies at 4 h post-transfer

Substrate group	PCR+, substrate/N (copy number/µl of sample)	PCR+, container surface/N (copy number/µl of sample)	PCR+, flies/N (copy number/µl of sample)	VI /IFA+, flies/N
Medium only (negative control)	0/2 (ND)	0/2 (ND)	0/10 (ND)	0/10
Virus-spiked medium (positive control)	2/2 (9.3 × 10¹)^a	2/2 (7.2 × 10³)^a	10/10 (3.9 × 10⁶)^a	0/10
Virus-spiked milk	2/2 (1.1 × 10²)^b	2/2 (2.6 × 10⁴)^b	10/10 (2.3 × 10⁷)^b	4/10

N , Total number of samples (wicks, flies or swabs); ND, not detected
^aSD of virus-spiked medium group substrate, swabs and flies at 4 h post-transfer: 7.5 × 10¹, 6.7 × 10³ and 6.0 × 10⁶, respectively
^bSD of virus-spiked milk group substrate, swabs and flies at 4 h post-transfer: 2.0 × 10¹, 4.7 × 10³ and 1.2 × 10⁷, respectively

ISSN: 1756-3305