• It is a facultative anaerobic organism that can infect humans via the Oriental rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis). (wikipedia.org)
  • Plague, a zoonotic disease caused by the gram-negative bacterium Yersinia pestis , is transmitted to humans by the bites of infected fleas (eg, Xenopsylla cheopis ), scratches from infected animals, inhalation of aerosols, or consumption of food contaminated with Y pestis . (medscape.com)
  • However, the Oriental rat flea ( Xenopsylla cheopis ) is an effective vector because of its tendency to regurgitate and to feed on nonrodent hosts (see the image below). (medscape.com)
  • Male Xenopsylla cheopis (oriental rat flea) engorged with blood. (medscape.com)
  • Competency of the flea to serve as vector for transmission of plague to humans depends on its willingness to feed on a human host and its tendency to regurgitate intestinal contents during a blood meal. (medscape.com)
  • This flea is the primary vector of plague in most large plague epidemics in Asia, Africa, and South America. (medscape.com)
  • At its next attempt to feed, unable to swallow due to the blockage, the flea regurgitates plague bacilli into the bite wound. (medscape.com)
  • Yersinia pestis is a parasite of its host, the rat flea, which is also a parasite of rats, hence Y. pestis is a hyperparasite. (wikipedia.org)
  • pFra codes for a phospholipase D that is important for the ability of Y. pestis to be transmitted by fleas. (wikipedia.org)
  • Y. pestis causes diseases through a bite of an infected rat or flea, but can also be transmitted by air. (kenyon.edu)
  • Y. pestis grows in the midgut and eventually blocks the proventriculus, starving the flea for blood. (kenyon.edu)
  • Source of host blood affects prevalence of infection and bacterial loads of Yersinia pestis in fleas. (bvsalud.org)
  • The classic mode of transmission to humans is a flea bite (see the image below). (medscape.com)
  • Fleas from sylvatic rodents feed on humans only reluctantly. (medscape.com)
  • Both male and female fleas can transmit the infection. (medscape.com)
  • If this flea were to bite a mammal, the proventriculus would be cleared, and thousands of bacteria would be regurgitated into the bite wound. (medscape.com)
  • Fleas can become infected by taking the blood of other infected animals. (kenyon.edu)
  • In nature, this flea would develop a ravenous hunger because of its inability to digest the fibrinoid mass of blood and bacteria. (medscape.com)
  • When the flea takes a blood meal from an infected rodent, stomach enzymes cause a clot to form, blocking the flea's proventricularis. (medscape.com)
  • Fleas from sylvatic rodents feed on humans only reluctantly. (medscape.com)
  • In nature, this flea would develop a ravenous hunger because of its inability to digest the fibrinoid mass of blood and bacteria. (medscape.com)
  • If this flea were to bite a mammal, the proventriculus would be cleared, and thousands of bacteria would be regurgitated into the bite wound. (medscape.com)
  • However prior to biofilm formation, ingested bacteria must survive within the flea midgut, and yet little is known about vector-pathogen interactions that are required for flea gut colonization. (nih.gov)
  • Domestic fleas were collected in 12 villages in the western Usambara Mountains in Tanzania. (cdc.gov)
  • Given these favorable conditions and a steady food supply, fleas can survive for two to three years. (animaldiversity.org)
  • Yersinia pestis is a parasite of its host, the rat flea, which is also a parasite of rats, hence Y. pestis is a hyperparasite. (wikipedia.org)
  • Ctenocephalides felis is one of the few flea species that is truly cosmopolitan. (animaldiversity.org)
  • The hind tibia is also different from other flea species in that it lacks an outer apical tooth. (animaldiversity.org)
  • The cat flea is not a social species. (animaldiversity.org)
  • Pulex irritans , known as the human flea, was the predominant flea species (72.4%) in houses. (cdc.gov)
  • When the flea takes a blood meal from an infected rodent, stomach enzymes cause a clot to form, blocking the flea's proventricularis. (medscape.com)
  • The genal and pronotal ctenidia help keep these fleas firmly planted on their host so that it is hard for the host to remove the fleas. (animaldiversity.org)
  • The powerful muscles in the fleas' legs, specialized for jumping, allow them to remove themselves from their host at their own free will. (animaldiversity.org)
  • A total of 58.8% of these patients had a fever with a maximum body temperature of over 38.5 °C. Moreover, 61.4% of the patients had a fever that lasted less than 2 days. (bvsalud.org)
  • They must maintain a very high body temperature, which can be from 104 to 112 degrees. (safarivet.com)
  • All members of the order Siphonaptera have powerful muscles containing resilin, a highly elastic protein, in their legs, which allows these fleas to leap as high as 33 cm. (animaldiversity.org)