BACKGROUND Rickettsia felis is a flea-associated rickettsial pathogen recurrently identified in both colonized and wild-caught cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis. We hypothesized that within colonized fleas, the intimate relationship between R. felis and C. felis allows for the coordination of rickettsial replication and metabolically active periods during flea bloodmeal acquisition and oogenesis...

Plague is a highly virulent disease believed to have killed millions during three historic human pandemics. Worldwide, it remains a threat to humans and is a potential agent of bioterrorism. Dissemination of Yersinia pestis, the etiological agent of plague, by blocked fleas has been the accepted paradigm for flea-borne transmission. However, this mechanism, which requires a lengthy extrinsic in...

Apple flea weevil, Orchestes pallicornis (Say) was a sporadic pest in the early 1900s and has reemerged as a severe pest of cultivated apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) inMichigan. Organic apple orchards inMichigan have had outbreak population levels of apple flea weevil since 2008 and damage has resulted in up to 90% losses. Apple flea weevil is a small, 2–3-mm black weevil with enlarged high leg...

The cat flea Ctenocephalides felis felis (Bouché) is the most important ectoparasite of domestic cats and dogs worldwide. It has been two decades since the last comprehensive review concerning the biology and ecology of C. f. felis and its management. Since then there have been major advances in our understanding of the diseases associated with C. f. felis and their implications for humans and ...

Yersinia pestis forms a biofilm in the foregut of its flea vector that promotes transmission by flea bite. As in many bacteria, biofilm formation in Y. pestis is controlled by intracellular levels of the bacterial second messenger c-di-GMP. Two Y. pestis diguanylate cyclase (DGC) enzymes, encoded by hmsT and y3730, and one phosphodiesterase (PDE), encoded by hmsP, have been shown to control bio...

Abstract: Papular urticaria is a frequent disturbing disease characterized by chronic or recurrent papules that are hypersensitive reaction to mosquito, bedbug, flea, and other insect bites. PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, EBSCO, Cochrane library were searched. Study articles screened title abstract using Rayyan QCRI then full-text assessment was implemented. This review investigates th...

Five off the shelf commercially available flea traps were tested for their efficacy against cat/dog Ctenocephalides felis. Two significantly better at catching fleas than remaining three which performed very poorly. It is presumed that unique combination of attractive features best performing Flea Catcher trap are what makes it so effective, including large, intermittently illuminated light pan...

Although on-animal topical treatment with compounds such as imidacloprid has revolutionized the control of the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché) (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae), the development of insecticide resistance is a continuing threat. As part of a highly co-ordinated and unprecedented resistance monitoring programme for C. felis, 1437 flea isolates were collected by veterinary clinics...

Opportunistic parasite species, capable of exploiting several different host species, do not achieve the same abundance on all these hosts. Parasites achieve maximum abundance on their principal host species, and lower abundances on their auxiliary host species. Taxonomic relatedness between the principal and auxiliary host species may determine what abundance a parasite can achieve on its auxi...

Rodent-borne bartonellae have been identified as human pathogens. Little is known about Bartonella infections in woodrat hosts and their fleas and how woodrat-flea associations may affect the dynamics of Bartonella infections. We collected blood samples and fleas from two species of woodrats (Neotoma micropus and N. albigula) from Santa Fe County, NM, from 2002-2005. The most predominant flea s...