Species composition, diversity, abundance, and phylogeny of fleas of small mammals in selected plague-endemic and nonendemic areas of Tanzania
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Date
2025-10-15
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Abstract
The remerging nature of plague requires detailed understanding of the plague flea vectors and small mammal reservoir
interactions. Therefore, this study is aimed at assessing flea vector composition, diversity, prevalence, abundance, and
phylogeny in selected villages of Lushoto, Mbulu, and Morogoro Rural districts in Tanzania. Small mammals were captured
from households and different habitats, and flea ectoparasites were collected, processed, and identified morphologically.
Furthermore, seven specimens of the most collected flea species Ctenophthalmus sp. and Xenopsylla cheopis were submitted for
advanced molecular identification and phylogenetic relatedness. The prevalence between predictors such as habitat type, host
species, host sex, and locality was compared using chi-square tests, and also, generalized linear models (GLMs) were used to
check the variation between flea abundance and different predictors. A total of 302 small mammals were captured with
Mastomys natalensis (n = 163, 54.0%), Rattus rattus (n = 41, 13.6%), and Crocidura spp. (n = 31, 10.3%) dominating the total
capture. The collected fleas belonged to nine species, and the most prevalent and abundant species were Ctenophthalmus spp.
(n = 84, 31.0%), Pulex irritans (n = 82, 30.3%), Dinopsylla lypusus (n = 78, 28.8%), and Nosopsyllus incisus (n = 11, 4.1%) from
rodents, and more so on males than females. The highest flea diversity was in crop fields (H ′ = 1 05) followed by near-natural
forests (H ′ = 1 03) and fallow land (H ′ = 0 7). Phylogenetic analysis of ITS1 sequences for Ctenophthalmus sp. and Xenopsylla
cheopis from Lushoto and Mbulu districts showed strong nucleotide identity. These findings highlight the need for continuous
flea and rodent surveillance to mitigate potential plague outbreaks and protect public health in endemic areas.
Description
Journal of Parasitology Research
Keywords
abundance, diversity, fleas, phylogeny, rodents, shrews
Citation
https://doi.org/10.1155/japr/5513199