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Hi. I have sort of a funny question, but I think you can give me the answer I need. If not, please excuse me.
Ok, I will start by telling you what happened.
I have a friend that is really depressed and I have been tring to help her out by cleaning, cooking, and just being there for her. (She is getting help, so she is doing better) Anyway, one morning I went over to help clean up her kitchen and found something really gross. There was a bowl of what looked like milk from cereal and milk and also a bowl of beans and a bowl of uncooked meat on the counter. I also thought there was rice in one of the bowls, which looked like it had spilled over in the floor. I picked some of them up with my hands, but with further investigation, realized they were not rice, but they were MAGGOTS (I guess from the food sitting there for too long). I swept them up with the broom, threw the bowls in the garbage can, and sprayed cleaner on the counter. I think I got all of the maggots up. The thing that bothered me though, was that she has this wooden cabinet thing that had one of the maggot worms on it and it is made of wood that can not be cleaned or it will ruin it! Would any kind of contact with those maggots that had been in the food hurt anything?
I don't want to tell her about this incident because I don't want to embarass her or make her situation worse on herself. But, I was afraid I might have cross- contaminated areas from this situation. You know, like touching the maggots then the sink to wash my hands or the broom,etc. Also, the area that the wooden cabinet (that can't be cleaned) sometimes gets wet and I have heard that wetness can hold in germs or make them worse. If the cabinet that had the maggot on it gets wet and touches something else would that spread germs? And how long could germs or contact with germs like this really last? Or are there really any germs? My gut instinct isthat I am just over exaggerating this situation and that none of this stuff would hurt anything. Pleae ease my ever- worrying mind of all this! I hope all of this makes sense and that you can understand it. I just want to make sure any contact with this would not hurt anything, even if we touched were those maggots might have been, then touched our food. I'm not sure I cleaned every little spot well enough.
Thank you so much for your time and please, please ease my mind of this situation, so that I can help her cook again without worry in her kitchen. Sorry so long and again thank you!
Answer -
Sounds like the meat had been sitting around quite some time. Long enough for a fly to lay eggs and have those eggs hatch into larvae (maggots). As far as germs (or bacteria), you're probably safest to disinfect the counter and wood cabinet with a light solution of bleach. I would use 1 tsp of bleach in 1 qt of water, use a clean cloth and simply wipe down all the surfaces. You can further wipe down with clean water again using a damp cloth the wood cabinet. I would imagine this won't hurt the cabinet, and will kill off the majority of any harmful bacteria.
Ok. Thanks for that advice! But, as for as cross- contamination, like touching the maggots, then the sink knob, washing my hands, and then touching the same sink knob again to turn off the water, then touching other objects, there wouldn't be enough on anything to hurt- right? This happened quite a few days ago, so after a few days wouldn't all the germs be gone anyway? (Just in case I didn't get every single spot on the counter or on the things that come in second- hand contact with the maggots?) I just felt like I was spreading germs while cleaning this up because of course I had to touch things and could not clean every single item I touched the second after I touched it. Thanks!
AnswerI think your probably fine. Bacteria do linger over time, but in small numbers. If you are concerned, it is worth wiping the whole kitchen down in one fell swoop. That way, you're sure you've touched on everything at once and minimized the cross contamination.
