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The human flea (Pulex irritans) – once also called the house flea [1] – is a cosmopolitan flea species that has, in spite of the common name, a wide host spectrum.It is one of six species in the genus Pulex; the other five are all confined to the Nearctic and Neotropical realms. [2]
Flea bites cause a slightly raised, swollen, irritating nodule to form on the epidermis at the site of each bite, with a single puncture point at the centre, like a mosquito bite. [ 34 ] : 126 This can lead to an eczematous itchy skin disease called flea allergy dermatitis , which is common in many host species, including dogs and cats. [ 29 ]
It is mainly a disease in the fleas (Xenopsylla cheopis) that infested the rats, making the rats themselves the first victims of the plague. Rodent-borne infection in a human occurs when a person is bitten by a flea that has been infected by biting a rodent that itself has been infected by the bite of a flea carrying the disease.
But some experts say the creature that bites you and the sand flea are likely entirely different beasts. South Carolina state entomologist Timothy Drake Jr. has what you need to know about sand fleas.
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As with other fleas, the life cycle consists of eggs, the larval stages, a pupal stage and an adult stage. [7] The larvae have chewing jaws and it is only the adult fleas that are capable of biting the host. Under optimal conditions of temperature and humidity, adults can emerge from the cocoon in 23 days.
Cat fleas originated in Africa [4] but can now be found globally. [5] As humans began domesticating cats, the prevalence of the cat flea increased and it spread throughout the world. Of the cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis felis is the most common, although other subspecies do exist, including C. felis strongylus, C. orientis, and C. damarensis ...
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