United States virus

Literature Review on Fleas

Introduction

Across the United States, ten victims of the arthropod-spread Unidentified Disease 11 have died after experiencing symptoms such as unconsciousness, fever, malaise, chills, and aches. Due to exposure to felines infested with Ctenocephalides felis, the cat flea, it is suspected that trapping protocols for fleas in homes of victims as well as public places should be established to collect further data. This may also help eliminate another flea, Ctenocephalides canis commonly known as the Dog Flea, as it was also found in many patient locations.

Body

On fleas, the sensilium found on abdominal tergum 9 or 10 detects air movement, vibrations, and temperature gradients, helping them to detect hosts. Key stimuli used by fleas to detect hosts include body warmth, air movements, vibrations in the substrate, odors such as carbon dioxide or urine, and changes in light intensity (Durden and Mullen 2009). Flea traps function differently than the typical trap used for flying insects because fleas are wingless and move by leaping or hopping. The trap must be accessible to fleas from where they were prior to reaching the trap. So, if they were on an animal or wandering through carpet, the trap must be placed so that it caters to their ability to hop into the trapping area. Such traps with a sort of adhesive in the tray below the light are effective because, once the flea hops toward the light, it lands and is caught in the adhesive material (Exum and Mellenthin 1992).

To find potential hosts, fleas use both thermal and visual cues. Therefore, most traps are designed to take advantage of the way they find hosts with the use of incandescent light bulbs to simulate the stimuli detected by the fleas. Because changes in light intensity help draw the attention of fleas, an intermittent light trap that demonstrates such changes in light intensity would be most useful (Müller, Dryden, Revay, Kravchenko, Broce, Hampton, Junnila and Schlein 2011). One test found that a green-yellow filter with a transmittance spectrum focused at 515-nm and 82.5-nm attracted more fleas than other filters or plain white light (Dryden and Broce 1993).

Regarding trap placement, considering the interaction of felines may provide perspective on where the traps may best be placed. Gravid female fleas tend to settle on one host, while others can engorge themselves and change their cat host in less than one hour. This may be the cause of rapid introduction of a new flea population into an environment with multiple felines, so traps should be placed in an area where multiple cats have been known to interact. Sexually activity between cats has been demonstrated to increase the rate at which fleas change hosts (Franc, Bouhsira and Beugnet 2013).

Conclusion

A successful flea trap consists of one that stimulates their senses and draws them toward the adhesive in the tray by imitating warmth and changes in light intensity. The green-yellow filter on a intermittent light with thermal cues should be sufficient for the traps planned to capture the cat fleas in this collection. It would seem most beneficial to not only place traps in homes of the victims near the beds of their cats, but also in local veterinary offices and in park areas where cats have been observed interacting in the past, regardless of whether they are pets or feral.

 

Methods and Materials

The various patients were most likely infected by fleas in or around their living establishments. Since each patient’s pets were most likely responsible for carrying the fleas, traps will be set up around common areas that the pets roam. Depending on the pet, these places are both indoor and outdoor. Therefore traps will be placed both inside the patient’s home and in their yards. Vet offices and shelters may also be monitored if the pet visited these places around the time they were infected with fleas. For trapping, it is estimated that around fifty-two traps will be needed so that none are reused. The traps will be placed out at night since more fleas will be attracted to the light emitted and will be checked every morning for a total of two weeks per hotspot area.

 

Items needed are: 

• 17 Plates or lids with a 1in lip or greater

• 17 Battery operated tea light candles with moving white light flame 

• 17 Small glass candle holders

• 4 Bottles of Dawn soap or similar soap

• 17 White towels (12 inch x 18 inch hand towel)

• 35 Extra CR2032 batteries

 

First: Place the white towel down where the trap will be located. The white towel makes the light seem brighter, attracting more fleas. Also if the fleas do not go into the trap, they can be seen on the towel. Place the plate or lid on the center of the towl.

 

Second: Fill plate or lid with warm water and a teaspoon of dawn soap. Mix the solution.The soap breaks the surface tension of the water so that they cannot jump or walk on the water and will sink to the bottom of the tray and drown instead. This is the similar to the glue pads mentioned above, and will not allow the flea to jump away.

 

Third: Turn on the tea light candle and place it in the a small glass candle holder. Float this in the center of the plate. The intermittent and moving light of the candle will attract fleas in the surrounding area.

 

The soapy water will need to be changed each night to keep the trap fresh. Any fleas found in the water will be collected in the morning as specimens for the case. The tea lights will need to be turned off every morning as well. These items will need to be disinfected between the location changes of Seattle, WA, Miami and Homestead Florida, 8460 Cole Crest Dr Los Angeles, CA, Las Vegas, NV, and Billings, Montana. Battery changes will be made when necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Protocol:

The first host spot is in Seattle, WA. At 705 35th Ave S. Seattle, WA 98144, the trap will be placed near the Serval’s cat tree and one will be placed in the backyard. For 521 Lake Washington Blvd E Seattle, WA 98112, one trap will be placed near the Australian Shepard’s bed inside the house, one will be placed in the backyard, and another will be placed near the driveway close to the foliage in front of the house. It is suspected that the patient, Ms Abril, at 725B 16th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122 was infected at the client’s houses she visited above. However, since she carried flea infested contents around, one trap will placed in her bedroom near her bed, one near the cat beds that she bought for her clients, and another will be placed near the bird blanket that she used to wrap Donnie Campbell’s birds in. Two traps will be placed in the vet’s office that Ms. Abrill took Yolande Geraghty’s cat and Donnie Campbell’s chicken to. One will be placed in the waiting room near the entrance and another will be placed in the consultation room by the examination table.

Another hot spot of infection was in Miami, Florida. Traps will be placed inside The Cat Network in Miami, Florida where James Hess worked. One will be placed in the room where all the cats are kept, another will be placed in the cat bathing room, and another will be placed near the examination table in check up room of the onsite vet office. Sadie Waring did not have any pets, but did come in contact with feral cats through her traps. The flea traps will be set up around these feral cat traps on the property at 516 De Soto Dr Miami Springs, FL 33166. However, the number of feral cat traps on the property is not specified so four flea traps will be taken. Since a number of her feral cats come from the Miami Springs Golf and Country Club as well, three flea traps will be set out on the greens of the golf course. Their locations will be near the South Side Canal, near Curtiss Parkway, and in the middle of the greens closest to the Miami International Airport. At 3912 NE 20th Cir Homestead, FL 33033 flea traps will be placed near the cat tree and cat bed inside the house and in the backyard, one will be placed generically while the other will be placed inside the dog run. Two different traps will also be set where NE 39th St meets NE 40th St and NE 20th St. A third will be set where NE 40th St meets NE 20th St. Another will be placed in the waiting area at the groomers where Lora Cistrunk took her pets.

The final hot spot is in Los Angeles, CA. At 8460 Cole Crest Dr Los Angeles, CA 90046, two flea traps will be set out on the hills behind the house and one will be set out near the cat beds.Two more flea traps will be placed inside the vet that Marc Albert took his cats to, one in the waiting room and the other near the examination table. A final one will be placed at the groomers that these cats also went to. Rosemarie Avery worked for Mr. Albert and therefore most of the fleas she’d encounter would have been there. Only one flea trap needs to be placed near Mrs. Avery’s bed at 8455 Fountain Ave Apartment 3B, West Hollywood, CA 90069.

There were two other locations that have no cases near them. Mark Pace’s work, West Charleston Animal Hospital in Las Vegas, will have flea traps set near the grooming table and examination table. Other flea trap will be placed in the animal holding areas of the hotels that the vet’s patients come from. This number is not specified so ten flea traps will be allocated for this. One flea trap will also be placed in front of the Lake Sahara behind 8720 Carlitas Joy Ct Las Vegas, NV 89117. The last location of infection is at 4227 Pine Cove Rd in Billings, Mt 59106. At Vickie Ehrlekrona’s work, BeSpotted African Servals, two flea traps need to be placed inside the community kennel where the cats are kept. Lastly, Billings Logan International Airport will have two flea traps set. One in the special animal hold and another near where the cat carriers are kept.

 

 

Literature Review on Ticks

Introduction

Known as ectoparasites, ticks are well known vectors of numerous diseases that affect both humans and animals. In the case of Unknown Disease 11, Dermacentor variabliis, also known as the American Dog Tick was detected in six of the ten patient’s homes. D. variabilis is known to vector serious diseases such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia. These are very serious infectious diseases and should be taken care of quickly; therefore a trapping protocol to catch these ticks in the regions that the patients could have picked them up is mandatory to find out what is vectoring unknown disease 11.

Body

Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia are extremely infectious diseases that should be found and taken care of instantly. Rocky Mountain spotted fever is caused by Rickettsia rickettsia, and causes cardiac, neurological, muscular and other systematic symptoms that could potentially be fatal to one’s health (Watanabe and Schub 2015).  The zoonotic disease Tularemia, known as rabbit fever is caused by the highly infectious Francisella tularensis. Tularemia has six different clinical forms ranging from glandular, pneumonic, and typhoidal, apart from others and can manifest in fever, malaise, ulcers, chest pain, and gastrointestinal symptoms (Schub and Uribe 2015).

Ticks respond to many stimuli when they grasp on to hosts. This behavior that they take part in is called questing. This behavior is stimulated by movement, carbon dioxide, temperature and light. Each species of tick is stimulated differently and has a preferred method for trapping. D. variabilis is seen to respond better using a dry ice trapping method and a dragging method as they are not as aggressive as A. americanum at questing (Mays, Houston, and Trout Fryxell 2016).  

Conclusion

Although two methods are successful in trapping D. variabilis, one specific method’s benefits is higher than its setbacks. The dry ice trapping method can be costly and with the use of dry ice, more time is used after picking out the ticks you caught. The dragging method is the most effective method from the two.

 

Methods and Materials:

Since six of the 10 patients were infected by the tick Dermacentor varabilis, it is necessary to create traps for ticks as well to establish what could be the possible vector of Unknown Disease 11. D. variabilis is known to infect dogs and other small to medium sized animals. They are most commonly found in wooded areas, but also inhabit neighborhood parks, trails, and yards. These dragging methods will therefore be used around these regions. The list of areas include: the neighborhood parks where the dogs and cats were walked, the yard and backyard of the patient’s homes, and the vet offices’ yards and backyards. The dragging method for trapping ticks is cost effective and can be made by anybody seeking to trap ticks. One trap is enough to be used over again, but using a new dragging sheet per location is best in case holes are made while in the process. The drags should be constructed with light colored cloth like corduroy measured at 1 yard each side and attached or sewn onto a hollow PVC pipe or rod about 122 cm in length and should look like the one pictured below (Mays, Houston, and Trout Fryxell 2016). Ticks on the dragging sheet must be collected after each dragging location.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Protocol:

In the Seattle, WA region, the drag technique will be used to collect ticks along the yards and backyards of the homes of each patient. Cecile Abril’s home at 725B 16th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122 would be looked at as well as the local dog parks since she walked her customers dogs daily. James Hess’ residence at 3148 Indiana St Miami, FL 33133 would also require the drag protocol as well as his work place at The Cat Network where many exotic cats would come visit. Lora Cistrunk was at her family’s lake house addressed 3912 NE 20th Cir, Homestead, FL 33033 at the time she began to feel ill. She loved going outdoors and so the parks and trails around the family lake house along with the surroundings of the lake house should be tick dragged. Madalyn Richer was an outdoorsy kind of girl just like Lora Cistrunk and liked to go hiking. The hiking locations around her home as well as her residence located at 705 35th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98144 should be studied. Marc Albert had a grand backyard (8460 Cole Crest Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90046) that was located around the Los Angeles hills containing undeveloped land where many animals loved to visit and should be swept for ticks. Marc Pace worked at the West Charleston Animal Hospital in Las Vegas where he worked with exotic animals that performed at hotels. The animal hospital as well as the hotels should be swept as well as his home at 8720 Carlitas Joy Ct Las Vegas, NV 89117. Rosemarie Avery was a housekeeper for wealthy people that owned exotic animals that could have potentially infested her with ticks. The houses of those customers should be checked and swept at. Sadie Waring, Vickie Ehrlekrona, and Yolande Geraghty’s homes should also be swept. All homes of patients should be swept in the front and backyards plus all other extra places mentioned above.

 

 

 

References Cited

Dryden M.W. and A. B. Broce. 1993. Development of a Trap for Collection Newly Emerged Ctenocephalides felis (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) in Homes. J Med Entomol. 30:901-906.

Durden, L. A. and G. R. Mullen. 2009. Fleas (Siphonoptera), pp. 110-120. Medical and Veterinary Entomology, vol. 2. Academic Press, MA.

Exum, J. and J. Mellenthin. 1993. Illuminated flea trap. Grant US5251397 A.

Figure 1. http://www.inthegardenradio.com/v.php?pg=318

Franc, M., Bouhsira E. and F. Beugnet. 2013. Direct transmission of the cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) between cats exhibiting social behavior. Parasite. 20:002-006

Mays, S. E., Houston, A. E. and Troutfryxell 2016. Comparison of Novel and Conventional Methods of Trapping Ixodid Ticks in the Southeastern U.S.A., pp. 001–012. In M. Cameron, D. Otranto (eds.), Medical and Veterinary Entomology. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Ipswich, MA.

Müller, G. C., Dryden, M. W., Revay, E. E., Kravchanko, V. D., Broce, A. B., Hampton, K., Junnila, A. and Y. Schlein 2011. Understanding attraction stimuli of the cat flea, Ctencocephalides felis, in non-chemical control methods. Med Vet Entomol. 25: 413-420.

Friend, M. 2006. Tularemia. USGS. http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/publications/tularemia/

Sommers, M. and E. Fannin. 2015. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Diseases & Disorders: A Nursing Therapeutic Manual, 5th ed. ISBN: 978-0-8036-3855-6.