Michael Meegan fly traps trachoma

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The Lancet, Volume 349, Issue 9055, Page 886, 22 March 1997

doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)61803-XCite or Link Using DOI
Fly traps
Mike Meegan a, David Morley a Corresponding Author, Desmond Chavasse a
Sir
Conroy and colleagues report (Dec 21/28, p 1695)1 suggests the value of plastic bottles in the disinfection of drinking water by sunlight to reduce the frequency of diarrhoea. We investigated the possibility of using these bottles to construct a simple fly trap
Flies are a major risk to health in many countries, but in some populations the use of pesticides is too expensive. Fly traps have been developed in Israel where traps are made commercially in Kibbutzim.2, 3 We suggest an alternative fly trap that can be made from used plastic drinking bottles in less than 1 h. Currently, 45 are in use among groups of Maasai who catch about 255 flies daily. We do not claim that this method of catching flies makes a substantial difference because of the large population of flies, but hope that other fieldworkers can improve on the design and find more effective but readily available baits.
The fly trap is shown in the figure. Slightly diluted paint is poured into the bait bottle and rolled around the lower two-thirds of the bottle. When the paint is dry, fly ports are cut in the bottle. A plastic tube is made from another bottle and fixed to the neck of the bait bottle. The upper end of the tube is narrowed so that flies can just squeeze through the hole. The lower end of the trap bottle is cut off and slits are cut so that it fits firmly onto the bait bottle. The trap is hung just off the ground in the semi-shade. In Israel, yeast with a small quantity of ammonium carbonate is used as the bait but the Maasai use goats' droppings together with cows' urine.