BACKGROUND The objective was to determine the prevalence of ectoparasite infestations in referred companion dogs to veterinary hospital of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, from 2009 to 2010. METHODS A total of 126 dogs were sampled for ectoparasites and examined by parasitological methods. The studied animals were grouped based on the age (<1 year, 1-3 years and >3 years), sex, breed and r...

Identifying key reservoirs for zoonoses is crucial for understanding variation in incidence. Plague re-emerged in Mahajanga, Madagascar in the 1990s but there has been no confirmed case since 1999. Here we combine ecological and genetic data, from during and after the epidemics, with experimental infections to examine the role of the shrew Suncus murinus in the plague epidemiological cycle. The...

Fleas are the vectors of many communicable diseases that are normally found in oriental rats. Climate and environmental changes influence the habitat and migration patterns of vectors. In this study, the oriental rat flea abundance, represented as total flea index, was determined in correlation to host specificity and various environmental factors. The number of hosts and fleas calculated from ...

BACKGROUND Transmission of Yersinia pestis by flea bite can occur by two mechanisms. After taking a blood meal from a bacteremic mammal, fleas have the potential to transmit the very next time they feed. This early-phase transmission resembles mechanical transmission in some respects, but the mechanism is unknown. Thereafter, transmission occurs after Yersinia pestis forms a biofilm in the prov...

Heterogeneity in the landscapes of West Usambara Mountains on land use and human activities has been reported. However, the interface of land use patterns and human modified soils with small mammal and flea abundance for possible explanation of plague has not been explored. This study was carried out to determine the link between anthropogenic soils and land use patterns on small mammal and fle...

We examined feeding performance of the flea Xenopsylla ramesis on three different hosts: its natural, granivorous, rodent host, Sundevall's jird (Meriones crassus); the frugivorous Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus); and an insectivorous bat, Kuhl's pipistrelle (Pipistrellus kuhlii). Because these fleas are not known to occur on bats, we hypothesized that the fleas' feeding performance ...