Food-filled keyboard a haven for disease-carrying vermin says Royal Society of Chemistry researchers

[RamboLiberal]

It's a workplace hazard in the unlikeliest of places: your keyboard.

Errant breadcrumbs and cookie morsels that fall into the depths of your board as you nosh are prime midnight snacks for disease-carrying vermin.

When office workers head home at the end of the day, mice often come out to play.

And they scrounge for food on top of - and even in - desks, leaving droppings and disease in their wake, European researchers say.

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Workers who fail to keep their desk area clean and crumb-free can get sick simply by typing on a pooped-on keyboard and then picking up a sandwich or piece of fruit with their unwashed hands, the researchers warn.

Scientists swabbed keyboards in their London offices and found traces of E. coli, coliforms and enterobacteria, which all cause food poisoning.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2010/05/14/2010-05-14_untitled__keyboard14m.html#ixzz0nv1jcRKx

As the lone IT person in my office - I have seen more than my share of gross keyboards and mouse.