House Fly, Rat Flea

1. Dr. Sookun Rajeev K
M.D
Dept. Of Community Medicine

2. House Fly

3. Identifications
• Adult house flies are typically 5 to 8mm long with grey
bodies.

4. • BODY- is divided into 1) Head 2) Thorax 3) Abdomen
• THORAX – Marked with 2-4 dark longitudinal strips
•Bears 1 pair of wings and 3 pairs of legs

5. •HEAD– Bears a pair of antennae, a pair of large
compound eyes and retractile proboscis

6. Male – The eyes are closely approximated
Female – The eyes are widely spaced

7. •Have four lines down their back, often with yellow
undersides.
•ABDOMEN – Segmented and shows light and dark
markings.

8. •Their bodies are covered with hair
•They have red eyes.

9. •Female house flies are usually larger than the males.

10. House Fly

11. Male Female
Eyes closely approximated Eyes Wide apart
Disposition of Eyes

12. Diseases Transmitted
•Diarrhea
•Shigellosis
•Food Poisoning
•Typhoid Fever
•Dysentery
•Anthrax
•Ophthalmia
•Cholera
•Conjunctivitis

13. Control Measures:
Elimination of breeding places:
•Sanitary disposal of wastes such as refuse (especially
garbage), horse litter and dung, human excreta and sullage
water.
•Food sanitation such as keeping all foods in wire gauze or
glass cupboards and containers with well fitting lids.
•Tight packing of manure in trenches or pits to kill larvae by
heat.
•Provision of cement lined tanks or floors for stocking cow
dung so that larvae cannot burrow in the soil to pupate.

14. •Prevention of entry:
Making the houses fly proof, especially the
kitchen and latrines, by putting wire gauze
screens in doors and windows.
•Trapping:
Using a Balfour fly trap made of wire gauze in
which the flies enter through a slit to sit on the
bait but cannot come out.
•Manual killing:
Fly swatters are useful devices to kill flies.

15. • Baiting:
Baits may be used in houses, food establish- ments, cattle sheds,
etc. Examples are:
• Adhesive fly paper:
500 g castor oil and 800 g resin are heated together and the
mixture is spread on thick paper. Flies get stuck when they sit on
the paper.
• Tangle-foot paper:
Glue 1 part in 3 parts of water is spread on a paper which is
placed in an arched position.
• Strings and branches of trees:
They may be dipped in sugar or jaggery solution containing a
toxicant such as formalin, sodium arsenite or organophosphorus
compounds. The flies are attracted and get killed.

16. • Diazinon, dichlorvos, malathion, ronnel, naled, dimethoate
and trichlorion may be used in dry or liquid baits.
• Insecticide spray:
Pyrethrum may be used for space spray. For susceptible
species diazinon 1 to 2 percent, malathion 5 percent,
dimethoate 1.0 to 2.5 percent and ronnel 1.5 percent are
effective. 2 percent lindane, 5 percent methoxychlor and 5
percent toxaphene may also be tried at the rate of 4 liters
per 100 sqm of surface.
• Health education of individuals, families and the
community is essential for effective control.

17. RAT FLEA

18. The Rat Flea
• They are about 2.5 mm in size
• They are wingless.
• The move by jumping long distances.
• Body is divided into 3 regions: Head, Thorax and Abdomen.
• The head and thorax have rows of bristles known as combs and
the abdomen consists of 8 visible segments.
• Flea mouth has 2 functions: squirting saliva or partly digested
blood into the bite and sucking up blood from the host.
• Main vector for Plague

19. Identifications
Male
• The spermatheca is absent.
• The 9th abdominal segment
dorsally has a sensory organ-
Pygedium.
• Coiled structure – The penis
present in the abdomen.
Female
• Have ‘C’ shape spermatheca with
uniform thickness which is used
for storing sperms

20. Rat Flea

21. Diseases Transmitted
•Plague
•Yersinia Pestis
•Ricketssia Typhi
•Host for Tapeworm Hymenolepsis Diminuta and
Hymenolepis Nana
•Diseases can be transmitted from one generation of fleas
to the next through the eggs.

22. Control Measures
• Rats, mice and other hosts should be killed.
• Dogs and cats should be dusted with 10 percent DDT or BHC powder.
• For plague control the floor, walls and rat-runs should be sprayed with organo-
chlorines such as DDT, gammexane and dieldrin. Other insecticides such as
diazinon, malathion and carbaryl are used in resistant cases.
• Burrows and rat-runs should be insufflated with 10 percent DDT powder or
cyanogas
• Flea bite should be prevented by use of repellents applied to clothing. Deet
(diethyl toluamide) and benzyl benzoate are best for this purpose. Others, such
as DMP, may be applied on skin.
• Contact with hosts, especially field rodents, should be avoided to prevent
sylvatic plague.