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Given a housefly has landed on your food, and that you then consume it, what is the likelihood of contracting some malady directly attributable to the fly?

I'm aware that flies can carry diseases such as E. coli and have even been used as a form of biological warfare, but I'm unaware of any studies showing how likely it is that your average city-dwelling housefly landing on your food will deposit active microbes or parasites, and whether a single fly can carry enough toxic bacteria to affect a healthy adult / child, as all the studies I've seen seem to study disease communication by swarms.

(Note that I'm mostly interested in the Housefly, but if there's studies and conclusions available for other species that would be welcome too)

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    This is an interesting question but it lacks the supporting references we require here. Can you link to an example of the studies you mention such as flies being used as a biological attack and disease transmission by swarms?
    – Carey Gregory
    Commented Sep 12, 2019 at 14:31
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    Indeed interesting to quantify. But also quite broad (type of fly, environment, locality on the globe…). Please take the tour and read the help center & How to Ask. We require prior research information when asking questions. See this list of helpful resources. Please edit your question to provide more information on what you have read on this, what made you ask this question, and any problems you are having understanding your research. If you found nothing, what did you Google? Commented Sep 12, 2019 at 19:09
  • Can you narrow it down to a city or small region (like a state in the US) by your choice?
    – Jan
    Commented Oct 15, 2019 at 15:35
  • @Jan Thanks for your comment. I'm staring at a complete dearth of data; I have absolutely no preference whether it's single flies found in a Brazillian Favella or single flies found in a field in a suburb of France!
    – user208769
    Commented Oct 15, 2019 at 15:50
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    @ChrisRogers I did edit it yesterday to mention housefly in particular - have made that more clear
    – user208769
    Commented Oct 17, 2019 at 13:01

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