title: Blood meal identification in off-host cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) from a plague-endemic region of Uganda.
abstract: The cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, is an inefficient vector of the plague bacterium (Yersinia pestis) and is the predominant off-host flea species in human habitations in the West Nile region, an established plague focus in northwest Uganda. To determine if C. felis might serve as a Y. pestis bridging vector in the West Nile region, we collected on- and off-host fleas from human habitations and used a real-time polymerase chain reaction-based assay to estimate the proportion of off-host C. felis that had fed on humans and the proportion that had fed on potentially infectious rodents or shrews. Our findings indicate that cat fleas in human habitations in the West Nile region feed primarily on domesticated species. We conclude that C. felis is unlikely to serve as a Y. pestis bridging vector in this region.
authors.affiliation: Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA. cgraham@cdc.gov
authors.forename: Christine B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.forename: Jeff N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Borchert
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: Linda A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Atiku
authors.forename: Joseph T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Mpanga
authors.forename: Karen A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Boegler
authors.forename: Sean M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Kenneth L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Gage
authors.forename: Rebecca J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Eisen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D058251:Ctenocephalides / Q000382:microbiology*; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D058507:Host Specificity; D006801:Humans; D010930:Plague / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014454:Uganda / Q000453:epidemiology; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D004247:DNA