Appearance of flea bite marks. Species of fleas that bite humans, there are more than you would think.
- Cat Flea / Ctenocephalides felis: This particular species of flea is the most common in the United States, selecting dogs, cats, and humans as its preferred hosts. Cat fleas rarely take a blood meal from humans as they prefer to feed on cats and dogs instead. They amount to ninety percent of all the fleas found in the States. They are good carriers for some diseases such as Bartonellosis, Murine typhus and the Plague. Because the occurrence of these diseases in humans is low they prefer to feed on dogs and cats before people.
- Rate Flea / Xenopsyllacheopis: Oriental rat fleas infest rodents such as cottontail rabbits, mice and rats. This insect bite can transmit a number of diseases to humans with just a single bite . They transmit bubonic plague most commonly.
- Human Fleas / Pulexirritans: They mostly feed on mammals. Human fleas can only serve as transitional hosts to a couple of parasitic tapeworms, because they cannot serve as carriers for any disease.
- Chigoe Flea / Tungapenetrans: Female Chigoe fleas pierce and burrow under people’s skin to feed.
Species of fleas that bite humans can look very similar to mosquito bite marks. If a flea infestation is confirmed, make sure to notify your local exterminator. Read More…