Abstract
The fleas of the genus Tunga (Jarocki, 1838; family Tungidae) are ectoparasites of the order Siphonaptera. There are in total 14 Tunga species known, 12 of them occurring in Latin America. In this chapter, we present Tunga spp. described from South America. The fleas parasitize humans as well as domestic and sylvatic mammalian animals, but there are only two zoonotic species known to parasitize both animals and humans: Tunga penetrans and Tunga trimamillata. In general, knowledge on the life cycle, distribution, hosts, and pathology is very scant, with the exception of T. penetrans (L., 1758). Tungiasis is described in animals and humans, including the life cycle, epidemiology, and clinical aspects. We discuss integrated tungiasis control approaches, within the realm of One Health.
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Heukelbach, J., Harvey, T.V., Calheiros, C.M.L. (2022). Tunga Spp. and Tungiasis in Latin America. In: Mehlhorn, H., Heukelbach, J. (eds) Infectious Tropical Diseases and One Health in Latin America. Parasitology Research Monographs, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99712-0_8
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