Microbiologist Dr Peter Wilson said a keyboard was often "a reflection of what is in your nose and in your gut".More info at BBC News.
During the Which? tests in January this year, a microbiologist deemed one of the office's keyboards to be so dirty he ordered it to be removed, quarantined and cleaned.
It had 150 times the recommended limit for bacteria - five times as filthy as a lavatory seat tested at the same time, the research found.
The equipment was swabbed for bugs, such as those that can cause food poisoning like E.coli and staphylococcus aureus.
Dr Wilson, a consultant microbiologist at University College London Hospital, told BBC Radio 5 Live sharing a keyboard could be passing on illnesses among office workers.
"If you look at what grows on computer keyboards, and hospitals are worse, believe it or not, it's more or less a reflection of what's in your nose and in your gut," he said.
"Should somebody have a cold in your office, or even have gastroenteritis, you're very likely to pick it up from a keyboard."
Toilet cleaner than a keyboard
Posted on Sunday, May 11 2008 @ 8:32 CEST by Thomas De MaesschalckThis isn't really new to me but a new report by a British consumer group once again confirms that keyboards are dirtier than a toilet. The researchers tested 33 computer keyboards and found four of them were regarded as a potential health hazard and one harboured five times as much germs than a office toilet seat:
