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Diseases you catch at a flea motel
Tour operator Juergen Abele “was savaged by insect bites, at “North Shore motel” [typical flea motel in NZ]
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Tour operator Juergen Abele says he has more than 200 bites over his body which he are from staying at a North Shore motel. Photo / Supplied via NZ Herald
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Woman suffers 300 bed bug bites at Auckland motel
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Bed bug ordeal for German family spending 54 days in an infested rental campervan
The family were covered by hundreds of itchy red bites from their bed bug-infested rental camper van. Photo: supplied via Stuff NZ
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Few of the diseases carried by fleas, bed bugs, body louse, sand flies… and mosquitoes
Q. Can insects carry COVID-19 in addition to the following diseases?
- Short answer: Continue reading…
Study Offers Further Evidence of Bed Bugs’ Ability to Transmit Chagas Disease Pathogen
“Though generally regarded as a nuisance or irritant pest, the common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) is known to be capable of harboring more than 40 human disease-causing pathogens. It’s the transmission back to humans that bed bugs seem not to be as good at as some of their other blood-feeding cousins. But entomologists have some evidence that bed bug feces can be a channel for disease transmission, so it’s wise to study which pathogens bed bugs can carry and just how well those pathogens can survive within them.”
“Chagas disease is a vector-borne infection with symptoms ranging from mild to life-threatening, and it is spread primarily by insects in the Triatominae subfamily, a grouping of approximately 130 species found in the Americas. (They’re often known as “kissing bugs,” for their habit of feeding on sleeping humans’ faces.) The blood-feeding insects spread Chagas disease through their feces, and the infection affects as many as 8 million people in Mexico, Central America, and South America, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
A study by researchers at New Mexico State University shows that bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are capable of hosting the pathogen that causes Chagas disease for up to 97 days, and the pathogen can persist even through the bed bug’s molting process between one nymphal stage and the next. (Photo credit: David Mora del Pozo, Anticimex) Via entomology today
Flea-borne Diseases
Figure 1: Xenopsylla cheopis, the Oriental rat flea –CDC
Bubonic plague. The most well-known flea transmitted disease is the Bubonic plague. Plague is a disease that affects humans and other mammals. It is caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis. Humans usually get plague after being bitten by a rodent flea that is carrying the plague bacterium or by handling an animal infected with plague. Plague is infamous for killing millions of people in Europe during the Middle Ages.
Swellings (buboes) filled with bacteria develop in the lymph nodes, especially in the armpits and groin. This form is normally transmitted to humans by infected fleas. If left untreated, it causes death in about 50% of cases.
Urban plague may occur when rats living in and around human dwellings are infected. Rat fleas (Xenopsylla species) that normally feed on rats may occasionally feed on humans and thus spread the disease to them. When rodents infected with plague die the fleas leave their hosts and are then likely to attack and infect people. Other fleas, such as the human flea, may subsequently transmit the disease from person to person.
There are three clinical types of plague:
- Bubonic plague. Swellings (buboes) filled with bacteria develop in the lymph nodes, especially in the armpits and groin. This form is normally transmitted to humans by infected fleas. If left untreated, it causes death in about 50% of cases.
- Pneumonic plague. This is a secondary form in which the lungs become affected. It is highly contagious, the plague bacillus easily spreading from person to person in sputum or droplets coughed up or sneezed by sick people. Pneumonic plague occurred in epidemics in past centuries, killing millions of people. If left untreated it very often results in death.
- Septicaemic plague. The bloodstream is invaded by the plague bacillus, resulting in death before one of the above two forms can develop.
Flea-borne (murine) typhus
Flea-borne (murine) typhus, is a disease caused by a bacteria called Rickettsia typhi. Flea-borne typhus is spread to people through contact with infected fleas. Fleas become infected when they bite infected animals, such as rats, cats, or opossums. When an infected flea bites a person or animal, the bite breaks the skin, causing a wound. Fleas poop when they feed. The poop (also called flea dirt) can then be rubbed into the bite wound or other wounds causing infection. People can also breathe in infected flea dirt or rub it into their eyes.
Bartonella Infection (Cat Scratch Disease, Trench Fever, and Carrión’s Disease)
- Cat scratch disease (CSD), Bartonella henselae
- Trench fever, Bartonella quintana
- Carrión’s disease, Bartonella bacilliformis
Tularemia
Tularemia is a disease that can infect animals and people. Rabbits, hares, and rodents are especially susceptible and often die in large numbers during outbreaks. People can become infected in several ways, including:
- Tick and deer fly bites
- Skin contact with infected animals
- Drinking contaminated water
- Inhaling contaminated aerosols or agricultural and landscaping dust
- Laboratory exposure
- In addition, people could be exposed as a result of bioterrorism.
Mycoplasma haemofelis
Mycoplasma haemofelis (M. haemofelis) is a parasitic bacterial disease that is transmitted to cats through flea bites, as well as tick and mosquito bites. An infection of the red blood cells, M. haemofelis can cause fever and anemia in cats. There is also some evidence that M. haemofelis can infect humans, especially those with compromised immune systems. Because fleas are equal opportunity feeders, an infected flea can transmit the parasite to both you and your pet.
M. haemofelis attaches to the infected cat’s red blood cells, which leads to the body’s immune system treating the red blood cells as foreign, marking them for destruction. This destruction of large numbers of red blood cells frequently leads to anemia..
Tapeworms
One of the most loathsome parasites, tapeworms make themselves at home in the intestines of dogs, cats, and humans. Pets can get tapeworms by swallowing infected adult fleas, which can occur when animals groom themselves or other animals. Cats can also get the disease by eating infected mice.
While extremely uncommon in adults, children may get infected by accidentally swallowing an infected flea, which they can encounter while playing outdoors, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Children and pets pass segments of tapeworms, known as proglottids, during bowel movements.
Fleas
Fleas are small, wingless bloodsucking insects (order Siphonaptera) with a characteristic jumping movement. They feed mainly on mammals but also on birds. Of the 3000 species only a dozen commonly attack humans. The most important species are the rat flea, the human flea and the cat flea (Fig. 4.6). Their bites can cause irritation, serious discomfort and loss of blood. The rat flea is important as a vector of bubonic plague and flea-borne typhus. Cat fleas incidentally transmit tapeworms. The sand flea or jigger burrows into the skin of humans and may cause infections. Fleas that bite people occur in most parts of the world.
Difference between bed bugs and fleas: While both require blood meals from warm-blooded hosts, fleas tend to prefer feeding on hairy or furry animals such as cats and dogs. Bed bugs do not fly or jump. They have to crawl across your bed to feed.
Mosquitoes
Mosquito-borne diseases are those spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. Diseases that are spread to people by mosquitoes include Zika virus, West Nile virus, Chikungunya virus, dengue, and malaria.
Back to the initial question:
Can insects carry COVID-19 in addition to the following diseases?
Experts from the Vet School, Med School, and Center for Public Health Initiatives provide insight into the new disease outbreak
Though the nature of this outbreak is changing daily, some facets are known. Penn experts Julie Engiles of the School of Veterinary Medicine, David Pegues of the Perelman School of Medicine, and Carolyn Cannuscio of the Center for Public Health Initiatives provide some context:
Like its predecessors, the novel coronavirus is a zoonotic disease.
At its simplest, that means the infection can spread between animals and humans, Engiles says. “Something like 61% of known infectious diseases occurring in people are zoonotic,” she adds. “And recently, about 75% of newly emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, so either we’re seeing an increase in their relative frequency or we’re getting better at identifying them.”
They can be passed to humans through direct contact with animal feces and other secretions, contaminated food, indirect transmission via a conduit like water, or vector-borne transmission through mosquitoes, other insects, or even mammals, as is the case with rabies. In some zoonotic diseases like SARS and MERS, human-to-human spread then happens through contact with someone who is sick, likely in the same manner that the flu and other respiratory pathogens move from person to person.
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“…a flea Has smaller fleas that on him prey; And these have smaller still to bite ’em, And so proceed ad infinitum“
Q: How do we know the outbreak was caused by an animal?
Short Answer: By testing the animals at the origin source and comparing them with infected humans. But first, some background:
Viruses, a type of pathogen, can infect all types of living entities, from humans to plants and to even bacteria. The toxic agent replicates inside the living cells of organisms. The CDC lists 5 ways germs are spread between animals and humans:
- Direct contact: Coming into contact with the saliva, blood, urine, mucous, feces, or other body fluids of an infected animal. Examples include petting or touching animals, and bites or scratches.
- Indirect contact: Coming into contact with areas where animals live and roam, or objects or surfaces that have been contaminated with germs. Examples include aquarium tank water, pet habitats, chicken coops, barns, plants, and soil, as well as pet food and water dishes.
- Vector-borne: Being bitten by a tick, or an insect like a mosquito or a flea.
- Foodborne: Each year, 1 in 6 Americans get sick from eating contaminated food. Eating or drinking something unsafe, such as unpasteurized (raw) milk, undercooked meat or eggs, or raw fruits and vegetables that are contaminated with feces from an infected animal. Contaminated food can cause illness in people and animals, including pets.
- Waterborne: Drinking or coming in contact with water that has been contaminated with feces from an infected animal.
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