Sandy Koch, local microbiologist.

BOISE - Bacteria and viruses are lurking on every surface, and this flu season it seems everyone is putting in some extra effort to keep clean.

2News wanted to find out just what exactly is the dirtiest spot in town.

The Truth Squad decided to test surfaces in three common locations; the school, the work place and the home. With the help of Sandy Koch, local microbiologist, five objects in each locations was swabbed for a bacteria count.

KBOI radio in Boise allowed us into their newsroom to test a few commonly used surfaces. A microphone, control board, computer mouse and keyboard and telephone were tested at KBOI.

Out of all objects tested, the control board hosted the most bacteria with 150 germs growing on the surface.

"In the workplace the bacterial numbers were actually quite low, anything under a thousand is considered good," said Koch.

According to those standards, a school in the Meridian School District fared very well. The next spot tested is a classroom inside Renaissance High School. We tested a door knob, desk, chair, dry erase board markers and a textbook. The desk had the most bacteria growing on it with 120 germs, but Koch says that actually is pretty low.

The last place explored, and the location claiming the "dirtiest spot in town" title, was a single family home.

"Our home is actually our safety zone," Koch said. "The only germs that are in there are the germs we pretty much bring in."

Surfaces tested include a bathroom sink, television remote, refrigerator door handle, cutting board and kitchen sponge. The sponge had more than 11 million bacteria growing on it, while a cutting board followed with 8,000 germs.

Health officials say bacteria is everywhere, and not all germs are hazardous, but it's very important to control the spread of bacteria.

"Wash your hands, the best way to stop the spread of disease, cover your cough and wash your hands, it's the best thing you can do," said Bob Ju of the Central District Health Department.

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