Oriental rat flea

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Siphonaptera

Genus: Xenopsylla cheopis.

Host Spectrum:

Rats and sometimes human also

Geographic Distribution:

Worldwide; where rats live, In U.S. as far as Northern tiers of states.

Morphology:

1.5-4 mm; Combs absent, head smoothly rounded.

Life cycle:

1. Female oviposits on host, eggs drop off.

2. Larvae hatch within 2-21 days, molt three times over 9 to 15 days.

3. Pupate for a minimum of one weeks, adults emerge and jump onto host.

4. Adults can survive up to 38 days without food if there is enough humidity.

5. Frequently leave host.

Pathogenesis:

1. Annoyance due to flea bites.
2. Vector of Yersinia pestis (bubonic plague) and murine typhis(Rickettsia typhi)
3. A flea that bites a host infected with Y. Pestis will become infected itself when bacteria divides and fills the proventriculus. The starving flea then goes from host to host trying to gain nutrition until it starves to death. It will leave a dead rat to find other live hosts, including humans or pets if no rats available

Diagnosis:

Identifying the flea and diagnosis of Y. pestis and R. typhi.

Treatment is to control the fleas.

Public Health significance: It has great public health significance because it causes bubonic plague.