title: Epidemiological prediction of the distribution of insects of medical significance: comparative distributions of fleas and sucking lice on the rat host Rattus norvegicus in Yunnan Province, China.
abstract: Determining the distribution patterns of ectoparasites is important for predicting the spread of vector-borne diseases. A simple epidemiological model was used to compare the distributions of two different taxa of ectoparasitic insects, sucking lice (Insecta: Siphonaptera) and fleas (Insecta: Anoplura), on the same rodent host, Rattus norvegicus Berkenhout (Rodentia: Muridae), in Yunnan Province, China. Correlations between mean abundance and prevalence were determined. Both fleas and sucking lice were aggregated on their hosts, and sucking lice showed a higher degree of aggregation than fleas. The prevalence of both fleas and sucking lice increased with log-transformed mean abundance and a highly linear correlation and modelling efficiency of predicted prevalence against observed prevalence were obtained. The results demonstrate that prevalence can be explained simply by mean abundance.
authors: Vector Laboratory, Institute of Pathogens and Vectors, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan, China.
authors: X H
authors: XH
authors: Zuo
authors: X G
authors: XG
authors: Guo
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000854:Anoplura / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D058448:Biota; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D058267:Flea Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D010373:Lice Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008954:Models, Biological; D011156:Population Density; D015995:Prevalence; D051381:Rats / Q000469:parasitology*; D005423:Siphonaptera / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*