Rat fleas in the apartment and their bites

Rat fleas are parasites that easily adapt to the most diverse conditions of existence. Parasitologists consider them one of the most dangerous enemies of man, and this is not surprising: It is because of the rat fleas in the history of civilization that more people have died than from any other arthropod parasites.

At the same time, in its biology, a rat flea is not much different from its other relatives. That is why in the dwelling of a human being, it is found only slightly less often than feline, canine, or actually human fleas.

 

Rat fleas in the apartment: paths of penetration and places of shelter

Outwardly with the naked eye, rat fleas are virtually indistinguishable from flea parasites of cats and dogs. Only under a microscope can we consider the main differences of this species. Below is a photo of a rat flea at high magnification:

Actually rat fleas are called not one species, but a whole genus of species of parasitic insects, the main owners of which are rodents. Of these, the southern rat flea, the infamous carrier of the causative agent of the plague, parasitizes common gray rats and some other species of rodents.

By the way, not necessarily fleas in rats belong to the genus of rat fleas. They can also parasitize human, rabbit, canine, cat fleas and many other species.

Rat fleas look the same as most of their relatives: their small body is about 3 mm long and flattened laterally and has a dark brown color. Fleas do not have wings, but their hind legs are much longer than two pairs of forepaws. Due to them, the insects make huge jumps for their size: up to 30 cm after one jolt this little one can fly.

Rat fleas are temporary parasites of all their hosts. They do not live on the body all the time, but only jump on the animal in order to bite it and drink blood.

At the same time, the insects themselves are very tied to the resting places of their owner, in order to always have a source of food at their side.As a rule, insects settle in the nest litter in the holes of rats, gophers, gerbils, marmots, and here they lay their eggs.

On a note

In addition to rat parasites, mouse fleas penetrate the dwelling of a person — more often into private homes. And again, there is no particular difference between these insects, and they bite equally painfully and unpleasantly. Here only in large cities in apartments mouse fleas almost never occur.

The rat flea larva develops in the host's nest, feeding on the rotting remnants of grass or wool. If possible, the larvae willingly eat the excrement of adult fleas, retaining a large amount of undigested blood. The photo below shows flea eggs and larvae:

Rat fleas in the apartment settle in the presence of places with the accumulation of debris and dirt. It is here, behind the plinths, under the old long-washed carpets, their larvae can develop quite successfully, and adult fleas bite a person without problems.

Rat flea bites painful and almost always well marked. These insects do not have an enzyme that has an analgesic effect, and therefore a person feels severe pain when he bites.The bite site itself is very itchy, swollen, and in sensitive people an allergic reaction develops near it, which can assume a generalized character with fever and lymph nodes.

The photo shows multiple bites of rat fleas in an adult. Children react to them even more acutely:

As a rule, it is the bites of rat fleas that indicate the presence of these parasites in the apartment. Very often these insects are found in the house where they live domestic rodents - mice, ornamental rats, hamsters.

But even without them, fleas will feel great if they can regularly bite a person, a cat or a dog. Therefore, as soon as rat flea bites were detected, the parasites should be immediately searched and destroyed in order to prevent their reproduction.

 

What can be dangerous rat flea

Together with human, feline, and canine fleas, rats can cause pulykoz - a fairly common type of dermatological disease, which is a reaction to flea bites.

Symptoms of rat flea bites are quite characteristic for the whole family of these insects in general:

• swelling at bite site
• heavy solid rash
• severe itching
• appearance of ulcers in the mouth and throat
• fever
• headache and mild nervous system disorders.

If at least a few of these symptoms begin to appear after the bites of rat fleas, you need to see a doctor. Self-treatment is undesirable here, since such symptoms indicate the development of allergies. You can never predict how it will end - the consequences can even be nervous disorders and anaphylactic shock.

But the main danger of rat fleas is pathogens that are potentially able to travel in the body of the parasite. Among them are the plague bacillus, anthrax spores, the causative agent of encephalitis and brucellosis, salmonellosis and sleeping sickness.

In addition, rat fleas carry a huge number of worms eggs. It is not surprising that each flea bite can become a kind of injection of a whole set of foreign biological agents, to some of which a person may not have immunity.

It is interesting

The scientist who described the southern rat flea — the one that caused a third of the European population to die out in the Middle Ages — Charles Rothschild. He was a banker, and he was engaged in entomology as a hobby.He died suffering from encephalitis and deciding to commit suicide. Perhaps one of the fleas he studied became the cause of his infection with a deadly disease ...

 

Methods of dealing with parasites

Get rid of rat fleas in the room is easy, but troublesome. Adult insects die when surface treatment is carried out with an aerosol insecticide such as Raptor or Combat. In addition to this method, the larvae can be destroyed by special means — dust and microencapsulated Get-type preparations, which are used against cockroaches and ants.

The most effective method of dealing with rat fleas is to call special disinsection services. Employees of such companies use very powerful professional insecticides in their work, one treatment of the apartment is enough for complete destruction of all parasites.

Bringing fleas from a rat or other domestic rodent is easy: you can use flea medicines for kittens or puppies — sprays, drops on withers, and shampoos. It is only important to choose the right concentration in order not to exceed the permissible rate for an animal of a certain mass.

 

Effective drugs against rat fleas

To combat rat fleas most often used:

• aerosol means - both for processing the premises, and for removing fleas from pets. For the first purpose are Combat, Raid, Raptor, Medilis Tsiper, Karbofos, Mikrofos, Tetrix. For the second - sprays Hartz, Frontline, Advantage.
• Insecticidal dusts that poison the larvae - Pyrethrum, Fas, Dust Clean House.
• Shampoos with which pets bathe - Mr. Kiss, Celandine, Frontline and others.
• Drops for animals on the withers - for example, Stronghold, Hartz, Barsik.

 

How can you protect yourself from fleas

In those cases when, willy-nilly, one has to end up in places threatening to be attacked by fleas, special means of protection against parasites should be used. The most effective and widespread of them are aerosol repellents based on the substance DETA - a powerful insecticide capable of scaring off not only fleas, but also ticks.

In addition, you can increase the level of protection against fleas by putting your ankle trousers on nature trips and being careful not to stay for a long time near overnight spots for animals or burrows of rodents. While traveling in the tropics (where rat fleas are also numerous), one should avoid settling in too cheap hotels, often infested with parasites.

 

Residents of a block of flats suffer from flea bites