Middle East DVEP - Armed Forces Pest Management Board

and then only while they are on the host. Fleas are recovered by combing or brushingthe host or by running a stream of carbon dioxide through the fur while holding the hostover a white surface.Flea abundance in the environment can be determined by counting the number of fleaslanding or crawling in one minute on the lower parts of the legs of the observer. Thetrouser legs should be tucked into the socks to prevent bites. Flea populations can also beestimated by placing a white cloth on the floor in buildings or on the ground in rodenthabitat and counting the fleas that jump onto the cloth. Various flea traps have beendevised. Some use light or carbon dioxide as an attractant. Use of a modified Tullgrenapparatus, based of the Berlase funnel, sifting and flotation of rodent nesting materialsand dust and debris from infested buildings are effective methods of collecting fleas fromthe environment.Serologies of wild carnivores are sensitive indicators of enzootic plague. Fleas andtissues from suspected reservoirs or humans may be submitted for plague analysis to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Infectious Diseases,Division of Vector-borne Infectious Diseases, P.O. Box 2087, Foothills Campus, FortCollins, Colorado 80522. Contact Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at (970)221-6400 for additional information. Blood samples are easily collected on Nobuto®paper strips, dried and submitted to a laboratory for testing. Consult TG 103, Preventionand Control of Plague.Control of enzootic plague over large areas is not feasible. Control efforts should belimited to foci adjacent to urban areas, military encampments, or other areas frequentedby military personnel. If possible, cantonment sites should not be located in wild rodenthabitat. Fleas quickly leave the bodies of dead or dying rodents in search of new hosts.Consequently, flea control must always precede or coincide with rodent controloperations. Application of insecticidal dusts to rodent burrows is effective in reducingflea populations, but it is very labor intensive. Baiting with formulations that rodentscarry to their dens or with baits containing systemic insecticides that kill fleas when theyfeed, has been effective but may pose environmental risks.Urban plague control requires that rodent runs, harborages and burrows be dusted with aninsecticide labeled for flea control and known to be effective against local fleas.Insecticide bait stations can also be used. Rat populations should be suppressed by wellplannedand intensive campaigns of poisoning and concurrent measures to reduce ratharborages and food sources. Buildings should be rat-proofed to the extent possible toprevent rats from gaining entry. Domestic rodent control is discussed in Technical Guide(TG) 138, Guide to Commensal Rodent Control. Insecticides recommended for fleacontrol are listed in TIM 24, Contingency Pest Management Pocket Guide.Military personnel, especially those involved in rodent control, should use the personalprotective measures discussed in TIM 36, Personal Protective Techniques AgainstInsects and Other Arthropods of Military Significance, as outlined in Appendix F. Activeimmunization with a vaccine of killed bacteria confers protection against bubonic plague101