Expert Brought In By I-Team Now Helping Saugus Determine Source Of Fly Infestation
SAUGUS (CBS) -- Entomologist Tony Kiszewski is now a consultant for the town of Saugus as it investigates the source of a fly infestation in one of its neighborhoods. "The key is to find out the source," Kiszewski told WBZ-TV.
The I-Team first brought in Kiszewski after Pemberly Drive residents complained of flies taking over their homes.
"Bringing on this expert from Bentley University, we're hoping that he's going aid in that process because we have been able to identify a heightened concentration of these bugs along Pemberly Drive and what we're going to do is focus on that concentration," said Saugus Director of Public Health John Fralick.
Kiszewski, a Bentley University professor, identified the flies in the homes as phorid flies or corpse flies because they usually feed off deceased humans and animals. So far, he's found no evidence of anything decaying in the brook area. He is still investigating and talking to neighbors who say there has been a lot of construction in the area and pest control measures were taken for rodents. But Kiszewski says he doubts there would be enough rats to support such a large infestation.
"The big thing would be, and I think we've talked about this, see if the State Police has some sort of a dog that can sniff out and find dead carcasses or corpses or whatever they can figure out. That might help us identify the source. The issue really has to do with identifying the source to eradicate the situation.," said Town Manager Scot Crabtree during a virtual update on Friday.