In my practice as a veterinarian I must constantly battle fleas. Worse, and much more frustrating, I also must do daily battle against human ignorance regarding the vile, pestilence-spreading blood sucking parasites.

People’s knowledge of history is poor. Very few of my clients are aware that merely six hundred and fifty years ago fleas spread a disease (bubonic plague, also known as black death) that wiped out a third of Europe and changed the nature of society forever. Only in the last 80 years has the plague receded as the preeminent threat to human existence.

Now that in the United States plague isn’t the imminent threat it once was, many people view fleas as merely pests.

Indeed, fleas are pests. But they are much more than pests. They are vectors for many diseases other than plague in cats and humans.

A page published recently on the NAVC Clinician’s Brief website discussed some of the vague, creepy diseases that fleas can spread to your cat–and to you.

I suggest you check it out. Also, don’t forget to read what I have written about the parasites on my website:

http://drbarchas.com/fleas

Image: The little fella almost looks cute. Don’t be fooled: he’s deadly!

Share this entry with your pawple anywhere:

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An article about bubonic plague appeared on several sites recently.

Plague a growing but overlooked threat: study

By Michael Kahn
Tue Jan 15, 10:45 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) – Plague, the disease that devastated medieval Europe, is re-emerging worldwide and poses a growing but overlooked threat, researchers warned on Tuesday.

While it has only killed some 100 to 200 people annually over the past 20 years, plague has appeared in new countries in recent decades and is now shifting into Africa, Michael Begon, an ecologist at the University of Liverpool and colleagues said.

A bacterium known as Yersinia pestis causes bubonic plague, known in medieval times as the Black Death when it was spread by infected fleas, and the more dangerous pneumonic plague, spread from one person to another through coughing or sneezing.

“Although the number of human cases of plague is relatively low, it would be a mistake to overlook its threat to humanity, because of the disease’s inherent communicability, rapid spread, rapid clinical course, and high mortality if left untreated,” they wrote in the journal Public Library of Science journal PloS Medicine. (Emphasis added)

The article goes on to say that each year, 1,000 – 3,000 people are infected with plague worldwide. The US has 10 – 20 cases per year.

I admit that the numbers are not of pandemic proportions. And, thanks to antibiotics and improved sanitation, mass death on the scale that occurred in medieval times is not likely. But the article makes an important point: bubonic plague is spread by fleas.

The fleas that spread plague most often infest rats, but they can spread to other animals. In fact, cats are susceptible to plague, and are known to contract the disease periodically in California.

Plague is just one of many human and animal diseases that fleas spread. And it is just one of many reasons why I hate fleas. So, I beg of you: use a good flea preventative.

Share this entry with your pawple anywhere:

• Fleas Pose Health Threats to Cats and Humans
• Want to Save Your Pet From Suffering and Save Money on Vet Bills? Start With Common Sense–Part 2
• How Contagious are Tapeworms?
• Article Discusses Safety Concerns of Cheap Flea Preventatives
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