Flea
Select all the microorganisms which are commonly transmitted to humans by vectors such as ticks and fleas:
Fleas (Siphonaptera)
- Describe the life cycle of fleas with emphasis on larval feeding requirements.
- Eggs: Female deposits eggs in debris/dust in host habitat; eggs fall off host
- Larvae: Feed on organic matter/debris BUT must feed on partly digested blood meal regurgitated from adult fleas or their feces to successfully develop
- Pupae: Larvae spin silken cocoon (4-12 days, avg 7-8 days); cocoon covered with dust/debris
- Adults: Emerge and seek host; duration dependent on temperature and stimulus
Read this in Medical Entomology Questions
FLEAS
- Key genera: Xenopsylla cheopis, Ctenocephalides (felis/canis), Tunga penetrans, Pulex irritans
- X. cheopis → Yersinia pestis (plague), Rickettsia typhi (murine typhus)
- Ctenocephalides → intermediate host for Dipylidium caninum, Hymenolepis diminuta; also Bartonella henselae (cat scratch disease)
- Tunga penetrans ("jigger") → gravid female burrows into feet, deposits eggs in dermis
- Pulex irritans — human flea, causes allergic dermatitis
Read this in YEAR 3 PARASITOLOGY NOTES
What our notes say
- Select all the microorganisms which are commonly transmitted to humans by vectors such as ticks and fleas: (Bacteriology and Entomology Main Exam)
- Pulex irritans — human flea, causes allergic dermatitis (YEAR 3 PARASITOLOGY NOTES)
- Tularemia (Francisella tularensis) — transmissible via fleas (YEAR 3 PARASITOLOGY NOTES)
- Discuss the medical importance of flea (20 marks — recurring essay; key point-form answer) (Medical Entomology & Parasitology Quiz Q&A)
- Vector of disease: endemic (murine) typhus (*Rickettsia typhi*), bubonic plague (via oriental rat flea, *Xenopsylla cheopis*) (Medical Entomology & Parasitology Quiz Q&A)
- *Xenopsylla*/*Pulex* (flea) — vector of plague (*Yersinia pestis*); linked to endemic (murine) typhus (Medical Vectors: Ticks, Trypanosomiasis, Leishmaniasis & More)
Study material on Flea
- Medical Entomology Past Paper MCQs
- Medical Entomology Questions
- Medical Parasitology
- Medical Microbiology Q&A Guide
- Medical Entomology & Parasitology Quiz Q&A
- YEAR 3 PARASITOLOGY NOTES
- Medical Vectors: Ticks, Trypanosomiasis, Leishmaniasis & More
- Medical Entomology
Practice questions on Flea
Lyme disease is transmitted by ticks, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever by ticks, and Plague by fleas. Malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes.
- A) Malaria
- B) Lyme disease
- C) Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
- D) Plague
Answer: A. Malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes, while Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever are transmitted by ticks, and Plague is transmitted by fleas. Therefore, malaria is the odd one out in terms of its primary vector.