By Jessica Sand
 Kingdom
:Amimalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Siphonaptera
Family: Pulicoidea
Genus: Xenopsylla
Species: cheopis
Xenopsylla cheopis
is also called the
oriental rat flea.

The Oriental rat flea has no genal or pronotal
combs. This characteristic is used to differentiate
Xenopsylla cheopis from other fleas.

The flea's body is about 1.5 to 4 mm long. It
consists of three different regions that are
common in arthropods. These regions are the
head, thorax, and abdomen.

A flea's mouth is used for two purposes. The first
is for squirting saliva or partly digested blood into
the bite. The second is for sucking up blood from
the host.
 Larvae
are 4.5 mm long
and resemble white
worms. They lack both
eyes and legs. Each larva
has fourteen bristled
segments.
Xenopsylla cheopis is
thought to have originated in
Egypt as a parasite of gerbils
and grass rats.
It has been carried around
the world by ships carrying
black rats (Rattus rattus)
and now has a worldwide
distribution.
Also, it is frequently found
on the common or brown rat
(Rattus norvegicus).
 The
definitive hosts of the Oriental rat flea
include rodents, primates, and occasionally
humans.
 The
most common definitive host is the
common brown rat.
 There
are no known intermediate hosts of
the Oriental rat flea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSH0dO6pZz8&feature=related
Small, red bumps that
are very itchy
Hives or a rash
Skins infections can
result from severe
itching
Inflammation
A
physical examination of the flea bites is
sufficient for diagnosis.
 When
treating flea bites, the goal is to get
rid of the fleas by treating the home, pets,
and outside areas with insecticide to prevent
reinfection.
 If
flea bites occur, an over-the-counter 1%
hydrocortisone cream can help relieve
itching.
 Keep
rodent populations under control
 Use
flea prevention on your pets such as
topical treatments and/or flea collars
 Keep
 If
floors clean by vacuuming regularly
flea infestation occurs:



Use insecticides to kill fleas in your home
Wash anything and everything that has been exposed
to the fleas
Sprays or bombs can be used to kill the fleas as well
 This
species can act as a vector for plague
(Yersina pestis), Murine typhus (Rickettsia
typhi), and also act as a host for tapeworms
(Hymenolepis diminuta and Hymenolepis
nana).
 Xenopsylla
cheopis is most famous for its role
in the Black Death.

Plague, caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis,
is transmitted from rodent to rodent by infected
fleas.

Epidemics of plague in humans usually involve house
rats and their fleas. These epidemics continue to
occur in some developing countries (mostly in rural
areas).

The last rat-borne epidemic in the United States
occurred in Los Angeles in 1924-25.

Since then, all human plague cases in the U.S. have
been sporadic cases acquired from wild rodents or
their fleas or from direct contact with plagueinfected animals.

There are some people who believe that the age old nursery rhyme:
“Ring Around the Rosy” is actually a song about the bubonic plague.

Ring around the Rosy: symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash
in the shape of a ring on the skin

Probably referring to the red bumps that appear as a result of an infected flea bite

Pockets full of posies: a common belief of the time was that the plague
was the result of “foul air.” To combat this, pouches were filled with
sweet smelling herbs and carried around to ward off the disease.

Ashes, Ashes: the meaning of this line is not quite agreed upon, some
people think it refers to the cremation of the victims of the plague and
others believe it refers to a symptom of the plague that creates black
patches on the skin from tissue death

We all fall down: the death rate of people infected with the plague was
enormous. Many people “fell” victim to the illness.
 In
the United States during the 1980s plague
cases averaged about 18 per year. Most of
the cases occurred in persons under 20 years
of age. About 1 in 7 persons with plague
died.
 Worldwide,
each year.
there are 1,000 to 2,000 cases

Plague is transmitted from animal to animal and from
animal to human by the bites of infected fleas.

Less frequently, the bacteria enter through a break in
the skin by direct contact with tissue or body fluids of
a plague-infected animal. For instance, the process of
skinning a rabbit or other infected animal could
transmit the disease.

Plague is also transmitted by the inhalation of droplets
expelled by coughing, by an infected person or animal.

Person to person transmission is uncommon and has not
been observed in the United States since 1924 but does
occur as an important factor in plague epidemics in
some developing countries.
There are three types of plague that
can occur. They include Bubonic
plague, Septicemic plague, and
Pneumonic plague.

It is the most common type of plague.

Onset of symptoms is usually 2 to 6 days after a person
is exposed.

The symptoms of Bubonic plague include enlarged,
tender lymph nodes (called buboes), fever, chills and
severe exhaustion.

A condition caused by the invasion
of bacteria into the bloodstream.

The symptoms of this type of plague
include fever, chills, abdominal
pain, diarrhea, vomiting, bleeding
from your mouth, nose, or rectum,
or under your skin, blackening and
death of tissue (gangrene) in your
extremities, most commonly your
fingers, toes, and nose.

The disease finally progresses to a lung infection
called plague pneumonia, and it can be
transmitted to others through the expulsion of
infective respiratory droplets by coughing.

Symptoms of Pneumonic plague include fever,
chills, cough and difficulty breathing, bloody
sputum, rapid shock, and death.

The death rate of patients with plague
pneumonia is over 50%.

The diagnostic sign of Bubonic plague is a very
painful, swollen, and often hot-to-the touch
lymph node, called a bubo.

Other symptoms include fever, extreme
exhaustion, and a history of possible exposure to
rodents, rodent fleas, wild rabbits, or sick or
dead carnivores should lead to suspicion of
plague.

There are certain criteria for laboratory tests for
the diagnosis of plague.

Available at:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/plague/lab-testcriteria.htm

Specimens should be taken for
microscopic examination

Material from the affected bubo
should be taken, which should
contain numerous organisms.

Blood cultures should be done
whenever possible. Organisms
may be seen in blood smears if
the patient is septicemic.

Sputum/throat smears should be
taken from pneumonic plague
patients and should be stained
with a more specific fluorescentantibody (FA) test.
 Drug
therapy should begin as soon as possible
after the laboratory specimens are taken.
 The
drugs of choice to treat plague are
streptomycin or gentamycin, but a number of
other antibiotics are also effective.
 Those
individuals who have come in contact
with pneumonic plague patients should be
placed under observation or given preventive
antibiotic therapy, depending on the degree
and timing of contact.

Control rat populations in both urban and rural
areas

Use an effective insecticide to control rodent fleas

Eliminate food and shelter for rodents in and
around your home, workplace, and recreation
areas

Remove brush, rock piles, junk, and food sources (such as
pet food)

Treat your pets for fleas on a regular basis

Preventative drug therapy can be used in the
event that you are exposed to an infected animal
or human

Preferred antibiotics are the tetracyclines,
chloramphenicol, or one of the effective sulfonamides

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/species-of-theday/scientific-advances/disease/xenopsylla-cheopis/distributionecology/index.html

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/informatio
n/xenopsylla_cheopis.html

http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/html/imagelibrary/AF/Fleas/body_Fleas_il4.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSH0dO6pZz8&feature=related

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001329.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_rat_flea#Life_cycle

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/plague/lab-test-criteria.htm