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Arthropods as Vectors of Emerging Diseases pp 301–328Cite as

Fleas as Underestimated Vectors of Agents of Diseases

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Part of the book series: Parasitology Research Monographs ((Parasitology Res. Monogr.,volume 3))

Abstract

Fleas occur worldwide and specimens of their 2,500 species suck blood daily several times at practically all warm-blooded hosts. Therefore, they may become vectors of practically all agents of diseases that are bound to the blood of this armada of varying blood donators. Since the spectacular and very controversial discovery in the year 1898 that the tropical rat flea is the vector of the plague bacterium, many other bacteria and rickettsial species were found in fleas. Due to the availability of antibiotics, the threat of flea bites had considerably decreased and the dangers of fleas were neglected even for many decades. However, since the resistance of bacteria against antibiotics increases constantly and since it was shown in transmission experiments that also viruses can easily be transmitted by fleas and their feces, the status of flea bites must be considered as being much more dangerous as before. This chapter summarizes a long list of agents of diseases that lurk in fleas, and thus it becomes clear that flea control has become an important task, especially in times of intense globalization.

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  1. Department of Parasitology, Heinrich Heine University, Universiätsstr. 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Heinz Mehlhorn

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  1. Heinz Mehlhorn
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Correspondence to Heinz Mehlhorn .

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  1. Department of Zoomorphology, Cell Biology and Parasitology,, Heinrich Heine University, Universitätsstr. 1, Düsseldorf, 40225, Germany

    Heinz Mehlhorn

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Mehlhorn, H. (2012). Fleas as Underestimated Vectors of Agents of Diseases. In: Mehlhorn, H. (eds) Arthropods as Vectors of Emerging Diseases. Parasitology Research Monographs, vol 3. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28842-5_13

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