Small Rodents Fleas from the Bubonic Plague Focus Located in the Serra dos Órgãos Mountain Range, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2001, Volume 96, Number 5, pp. 603-609 Small Rodents Fleas from the Bubonic Plague Focus Located in the Serra dos Órgãos Mountain Range, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Raimundo Wilson de Carvalho, Nicolau Maués Serra-Freire, Pedro Marcos Linardi, Adilson Benedito de Almeida, Jeronimo Nunes da Costa Code Number: oc01092 ABSTRACT: Eleven species of fleas were collected from 601 small rodents, from November 1995 to October 1997, in areas of natural focus of bubonic plague, including the municipalities of Nova Friburgo, Sumidouro and Teresópolis, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Among 924 fleas collected, Polygenis (Polygenis) rimatus (Rhopalopsyllidae) was the predominant species regarding the frequency, representing 41.3% (N:382), followed by P. (Neopolygenis) pradoi, representing 20% (N:185) and Craneopsylla minervaminerva (Stephanocircidae), representing 18.9% (N:175). The host Akodon cursor harbored 47.9% of these fleas. Other six host species were infested by 52.1% of the remaining fleas. Fleas were found on hosts and in places within the focus not previously reported by the literature. KEYWORDS: Siphonaptera, small rodent fleas, bubonic plague focus, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Copyright 2001 Mem Inst Oswaldo Cru