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ZOONOSES
rarely are bothered. Antarctica has its own penguin flea. Rock doves
have their own flea. Some species infest poultry by attaching them-
selves permanently to the birds’ naked skin.
Jigger fleas burrow in the human skin causing a cyst, leading to
sores and secondary infection upon removal.
Nest fleas are found in swallow and martin nests. Fur fleas mostly
live on fur or hair. According to Guinness, at least 13,000 fleas were
removed from one red squirrel — squirrels seem to have more fleas
than other fur animals.
Most fleas feed and breed on various hosts, although some limit
themselves to just one host. The most deadly flea in the world in the
rat flea. When they bite, if infected, they can transmit diseases
through the bacterium Pasteurella and Yersinia pestis, the plague bac-
teria. Bubonic plague was mostly due to a flea that usually lives on
rats which are not immune to the plague. They would infest the rat
until it died, then infest people in areas where poor hygiene permitted avoid flea collars. Other controls that can be successful are biolog-
rats to live in large numbers. The plague is spread from human to
rat and rat to human from the saliva of fleas. The black death in me-
diaeval times created epidemics because most homes were not free of
rats. The plague of the Middle Ages (14th century) killed at least 25
million people. They kill more people than wars. According to Dr.
Wozniak, most endemic foci are centered on prairie dog towns.
Tapeworms infest dogs and cats when bitten by an infected flea.
Fleas also can transmit typhus, tularemia, undulant fever and other
diseases as well as the pneumonic and bubonic plague.
Fortunately these parasites have many enemies. Mites eat fleas in
all of their stages; small beetles who often live in birds’ nests eat fleas
and their larvae; and dogs and cats accidentally eat them when clean-
ing themselves.
There are some effective products on the market that clear fleas
from an animal up to 100 percent. There are products placed on
the skin of the animal once a month. Getting rid of dirt and debris
where they live helps. Wash your pets’ bedding every week in hot
water and detergent, groom your pets daily with a flea or fine-
toothed comb, and drown the fleas you gather in soapy water; vac-
uum your home frequently especially where your pets hang out;
ical, by using other predators, parasites or diseases to control the
fleas; sterilization by chemicals or radiation so they can’t repro-
duce; quarantine which tries to prevent the insects from entering
the country, and chemicals which uses insecticides but are danger-
ous and can upset nature’s balance by destroying beneficial insects.
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