Abstract:
Domestic fl eas were collected in 12 villages in the
western Usambara Mountains in Tanzania. Of these, 7 are
considered villages with high plague frequency, where hu-
man plague was recorded during at least 6 of the 17 plague
seasons between 1986 and 2004. In the remaining 5 vil-
lages with low plague frequency, plague was either rare or
unrecorded. Pulex irritans, known as the human fl ea, was
the predominant fl ea species (72.4%) in houses. The den-
sity of P. irritans, but not of other domestic fl eas, was signifi -
cantly higher in villages with a higher plague frequency or
incidence. Moreover, the P. irritans index was strongly posi-
tively correlated with plague frequency and with the logarith-
mically transformed plague incidence. These observations
suggest that in Lushoto District human fl eas may play a role
in plague epidemiology. These fi ndings are of immediate
public health relevance because they provide an indicator
that can be surveyed to assess the risk for plague.
