Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link Skip directly to A-Z link Skip directly to A-Z link
Volume 13, Number 5—May 2007
Research

Plague and the Human Flea, Tanzania

Anne Laudisoit*†Comments to Author , Herwig Leirs*‡, Rhodes H. Makundi§, Stefan Van Dongen*, Stephen Davis*, Simon Neerinckx*¶, Jozef Deckers¶, and Roland Libois†
Author affiliations: *University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; †University of Liège, Liège (Sart Tilman), Belgium; ‡University of Aarhus, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark; §Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania; ¶Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium;

Main Article

Table 1

Data on villages in Lushoto District, Tanzania, surveyed for domestic fleas, ranked by plague frequency*

Village Population† Plague frequency Plague incidence Coordinates, South–East Altitude, m asl Year of most recent plague case Year(s) flea trapping conducted No. forms received‡
Dule
 3,036
 0.059
 0.637
 04.58370–038.31657
 1,405
 1986
 2006
 20
Mtae
 3,407
 0.059
 0.121
 04.48421–038.23758
 1,632
 2000
 2006
 20
Handei
 5,745
 0.118
 0.137
 04.59514–038.32390
 1,376
 1990
 2006
 20
Kiranga
 868
 0.176
 1.056
 04.57571–038.27021
 1,821
 1996
 2005–06
 33
Magamba
 2,676
 0.176
 0.836
 04.72895–038.30148
 1,743
 1998
 2005–06
 52
Goka
 1,116
 0.353
 1.175
 04.56680–038.25990
 1,843
 1997
 2006
 20
Mambo
 5,669
 0.353
 0.722
 04.51167–038.21976
 1,828
 1997
 2006
 20
Nkelei
 1,305
 0.647
 3.434
 04.56062–038.24209
 1,904
 2000
 2006
 20
Shume-Nywelo
 3,757
 0.647
 10.460
 04.70025–038.19687
 1,890
 2001
 2006
 20
Emao
 2,054
 0.706
 5.180
 04.56276–038.25304
 1,827
 2000
 2005–06
 41
Gologolo
 2,202
 0.765
 18.544
 04.69707–038.22692
 1,950
 2002
 2005–06
 26
Manolo 10,464 0.765 6.320 04.62058–038.22260 1,809 2003 2006 9

*Data about plague are extracted from (3). Villages with a plague frequency of >0.3 on average, ≥3 years in a decade, were considered
high frequency villages. asl, above sea level.
†From 2002 census.
‡No. questionnaire responses received from village during survey.

Main Article

References
  1. World Health Organization. Human plague in 2002 and 2003. Wkly Epidemiol Rec. 2004;79:301–8.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  2. World Health Organization. Outbreak news index 2005. Wkly Epidemiol Rec. 2005;80:433–40.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  3. Davis  S, Makundi  R, Leirs  H. Demographic and spatio-temporal variation in human plague at a persistent focus in Tanzania. Acta Trop. 2006;100:133–41. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  4. Kilonzo  BS, Mhina  JIK. Observations on the current status of plague-endemicity in the western Usambara mountains, north-east Tanzania. Acta Trop. 1983;40:365–73.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  5. Kilonzo  BS, Mbise  TJ, Makundi  RH. Plague in Lushoto District, Tanzania, 1980–1988. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1992;86:444–5. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  6. Kilonzo  BS, Makundi  RH, Mbise  TJ. A decade of plague epidemiology and control in the western Usambara mountains, north-east Tanzania. Acta Trop. 1992;50:323–9. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  7. Schwan  TG. Seasonal abundance of fleas (Siphonaptera) on grassland rodents in lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya, and potential for plague transmission. Bull Entomol Res. 1986;76:633–48.
  8. Arap Siongok  TK, Njagi  AM, Masaba  S. Another focus of sylvatic plague in Kenya. East Afr Med J. 1977;54:694–700.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  9. Kilonzo  BS, Mvena  ZSK, Machangu  RS, Mbise  TJ. Preliminary observations on factors responsible for long persistence and continued outbreaks of plague in Lushoto district, Tanzania. Acta Trop. 1997;68:215–27. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  10. Kilonzo  BS. Observations on the epidemiology of plague in Tanzania during the period 1974–1988. East Afr Med J. 1992;69:494–9.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  11. Tenge  A. Participatory appraisal for farm-level soil and water conservation planning in West Usambara Mountains, Tanzania. Doctoral thesis. Wageningen (the Netherlands): Wageningen University; 2006.
  12. Lyamchai  CJ, Luimo  SD, Ndondi  RV, Owenya  MZ, Ndakidemi  PA, Massawe  NF. Participatory rural appraisal for Kwalei catchment, Lushoto District. Report from the African Highlands Ecoregional Program, Selian Agricultural Research Institute, Arusha, Tanzania; 1998.
  13. Vainio-Matilla  K. Wild vegetables used by the Sambaa in the Usambara Mountains, NE Tanzania. Ann Bot Fenn. 2000;37:57–67.
  14. Njunwa  KJ, Mwaiko  GL, Kilonzo  BS, Mhina  JIK. Seasonal patterns of rodents, fleas and plague status in the Western Usambara Mountains, Tanzania. Med Vet Entomol. 1989;3:17–22. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  15. Arrieta  M, Soto  R, Gonzales  R, Nombera  J, Holguin  C, Monje  J. Caracteristicas de la población de roedores y pulgas en áreas de differente riesgo para peste de tres provincias del departamento de Piura—Peru. Revista Peruana de Medicina Experimental y Salud Pública. 2001;18:90–7.
  16. Beaucournu  JC, Le Piver  M, Guiguen  C. The present status of the conquest of tropical Africa by Pulex irritans Linnaeus, 1758 [in French]. Bull Soc Pathol Exot. 1993;86:290–4.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  17. Smith  A. The susceptibility to dieldrin of Pulex irritans and Pediculus humanus corporis in the Pare area of north-east Tanganyika. Bull World Health Organ. 1959;21:240–1.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  18. Kilonzo  BS, Mtoi  RS. Entomological, bacteriological and serological observations after the 1977 plague outbreak in Mbulu District, Tanzania. East Afr Med J. 1983;60:91–7.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  19. Beaucournu  JC, Guiguen  C. Presence of Pulex irritans L. (Siphonaptera) in Burundi, plague risk area [in French]. Bull Soc Pathol Exot Filiales. 1979;72:481–6.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  20. Beaucournu  JC. Diversity of flea vectors as a function of plague foci [in French]. Bull Soc Pathol Exot. 1999;92:419–21.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  21. Dennis  DT, Gage  KL, Gratz  N, Poland  JD, Tikhonov  I. Plague manual: epidemiology, distribution, surveillance and control. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1999. WHO/CDS/CSR/EDC/99.2.
  22. Perry  RD, Fetherston  JD. Yersinia pestis—etiologic agent of plague. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1997;10:35–66.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  23. Twigg  G. The black death: a biological reappraisal. New York: Schocken Books; 1985.
  24. Audouin-Rouzeau  F. Les chemins de la peste. Le rat, la puce et l'homme. Rennes, (France): Presses Universitaires de Rennes; 2003.
  25. Drancourt  M, Houhamdi  L, Raoult  D. Yersinia pestis as a telluric, human ectoparasite-borne organism. Lancet Infect Dis. 2006;6:234–41. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  26. Bacot  AW, Martin  C, Martin  J. Observations on the mechanism of the transmission of plague by fleas. J Hyg (Lond). 1914;3(Suppl):423–39.
  27. Eisen  RJ, Bearden  SW, Wilder  AP, Montenieri  JA, Antolin  MF, Gage  KL. Early-phase transmission of Yersinia pestis by unblocked fleas as a mechanism explaining rapidly spreading plague epizootics. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006;103:15380–5. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  28. Gage  KL, Kosoy  MY. Natural history of plague: perspectives from more than a century of research. Annu Rev Entomol. 2005;50:505–28. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  29. Gabastou  JM, Proaño  J, Vimos  A, Jaramillo  G, Hayes  E, Gage  KL, An outbreak of plague including cases with probable pneumonic infection, Ecuador, 1998. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2000;94:387–91. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  30. Devignat  R. Epidémiologie de la Peste Au Lac Albert 1944–1945–1946. Ann Soc Belg Med Trop. 1949;29:277–305.
  31. Herivaux  G, Toumanoff  C. Epidémiologie de la peste à Saïgon-Cholon (1943). L'étude de la faune pulicidienne des rats dans ses rapports avec la transmission de la peste. Séance du 8 janvier 1947. Bull Soc Pathol Exot. 1948;41:47–59.
  32. Misonne  X. The rodents of the areas of the Congolese plague [in French]. Ann Soc Belg Med Trop. 1959;39:437–93.
  33. Witt  LH, Linardi  PM, Meckes  O. Blood-feeding of Tunga penetrans males. Med Vet Entomol. 2004;18:439–41. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  34. Mitchell  A. Plague in South Africa: historical summary. Publications of the South African Institute of Medical Research. 1927;20:89.
  35. Wheeler  C, Douglas  J, Evans  F. The role of burrowing owl and the stricktight flea in the spread of plague. Science. 1941;94:560–1. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  36. Burroughs  AL. Sylvatic plague studies. The vector efficiency of nine species of fleas compared with Xenopsylla cheopis. J Hyg (Lond). 1947;45:371–96. DOIGoogle Scholar
  37. Morand  S, Poulin  R, Krasnov  BR. Global changes and the future of micromammal–macroparasite interactions. In: Morand S, Krasnov BR, Poulin R, editors. Micromammals and macroparasites. From evolutionary ecology to management. Tokyo: Springer-Verlag; 2006. p. 617–35.
  38. Chanteau  S. Atlas de la peste à Madagascar. Institut de recherche pour le développement, Institut Pasteur, Agence universitaire de la francophonie, Paris; 2006.
  39. Krasnov  BR, Khokhlova  IS, Fielden  LJ, Burdelova  NV. Development rates of two Xenopsylla flea species in relation to air temperature and humidity. Med Vet Entomol. 2001;15:249–58. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  40. Orochi Orach  S. Plague outbreaks: the gender and age perspective in Okoro County, Nebbi District, Uganda. July 2003. Nebbe, Uganda: Agency for Accelerated Regional Development; 2003.

Main Article

Page created: June 23, 2010
Page updated: June 23, 2010
Page reviewed: June 23, 2010
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
file_external