Seasonal Abundance of Plague Vector Xenopsylla brasiliensis from Rodents Captured in Three Habitat Types of Periurban Suburbs of Harare, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The study was aimed at determining the seasonal abundance of Xenopsylla brasiliensis, an important vector of plague in Zimbabwe, from rodent hosts captured in selected habitat types of two periurban suburbs of Harare, Zimbabwe. The removal-trapping method was used to capture the rodents, from which fleas were collected and identified. Percentage incidence index (PII) and specific flea index (SFI) were calculated for X. brasiliensis in relation to rodent species host. Mastomys natalensis, Rattus rattus, Tatera leucogaster, and Rhabdomys pumilio were the rodent species present in the study areas and all species were infested with X. brasiliensis. PII for T. leucogaster in relation to X. brasiliensis was significantly higher (p < 0.05) compared with that of the other rodent species and T. leucogaster also recorded the highest SFI, whereas R. pumilio recorded the lowest indices. In both formal and informal settlements, the highest PII of X. brasiliensis was attained for M. natalensis, followed by R. rattus. In the cultivated habitat, T. leucogaster recorded the highest indices and R. pumilio the lowest. X. brasiliensis was found to cohabitat with Dinopsyllus lypusus and Ctenophthalmus calceatus on M. natalensis, R. rattus, and T. leucogaster. No cohabitation was recorded for R. pumilio. For all the rodent species captured, both the PII and SFI of X. brasiliensis were highest during the hot-dry season, followed by the hot-wet season, with the cold-dry season recording the lowest indices. The overall cohabitation was highest during the hot-dry season and lowest during the hot-wet season. The findings of the present study fit the reported occurrence of plague outbreaks during the hot-dry season in periurban Zimbabwe.

Spatiotemporal variations of the incidence of the fleas (Siphonaptera) on domestic small mammals in the city of Cotonou, Benin.

“…In Cotonou, the overall flea index was 0.63, significantly more important than that of Kinshasa (0.28;Laudisoit, 2004) or in the city of Makurdi, Nigeria (0.08; Omudu & Ati, 2010). In these cities, all small mammals, rodents and shrews, infested with fleas were hosts of Xenopsylla (Laudisoit, 2004;Omudu & Ati, 2010;Zimba et al, 2011) like in this study (with the exception of the single cat flea).…”

“…The capture of a large number of R. rattus was consistent with its wide distribution in the World (Vanasco et al, 2003;Wilson & Reeder, 2005) and with its attested presence in other African cities like Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt (Morsy et al, 1988;Khalid et al, 1992), Harare, Zimbabwe (Zimba et al, 2011), Kinshasa, RDC (Laudsoit, 2004, Niamey, Niger (Garba, 2012) or Makurdi, Nigeria (Omudu & Ati, 2010). This result is consistent with the hypothesis that the black rat is able to better adapt to tropical climatic and environmental conditions than the brown rat, R. norvegicus (Feng & Himsworth, 2013).…”

“…Several authors have sampled small mammals and their ectoparasites in different African cities, including Alexandria (Morsy et al, 1988), Cairo (Khalid et al, 1992. ), Kinshasa (Laudisoit, 2004), Cotonou (Houémènou, 2006; this study), Makurdi (Omudu & Ati, 2010) and Harare (Zimba et al, 2011). These authors calculated parasitic or Pulicidae prevalence as well as a series of indices: parasitic rate, flea index, among others.…”

Human activity spaces and plague risks in three contrasting landscapes in Lushoto District, Tanzania

“…For vector-borne zoonoses, human induced environmental change may affect the transmission potential of wildlife cycles, whilst human activities rather determine the potential of contact with components of those cycles and so co-determine the risk of infection (Randolph et al, 2010;Zimba et al, 2011).…”

“…Human movement is a critical (Zimba et al, 2011) but understudied behavioural component underlying the transmission dynamics of many vector-borne pathogens (Stoddard et al, 2009;Randolph et al, 2010). Land use patterns and changes are drivers of human movements.…”