FLEAS AS DISEASE CARRIERS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 1983, 29 May 1919, Page 1

FLEAS AS DISEASE CARRIERS.

—•— METHODS OF EXTERMINATION. The common human flea is a numerous and troublesome species. Recently scientific investigation has shown that the flea is not only a carrier, but a developer of various human diseases, and there are .suspicions of its connection with influenza. A detailed account of a series of experiments and investigations carried out under the auspices of the of the State of New York;by Ephraim Porter Felt, D.Sc., is given in the New York State Bulletin, No. 194, published under the editorship of John M. Clarke, D.Sc., L.L.D., director, at the request of Dr. Thomas E. Finnegan, Deputy-Commissioner of Education. It is pointed out that, according to the investigations of Dr. Mitzmain, the human flea appears to spend a portion of its winter on dogs, and that as the flea can Jive on various hosts, or apart entirely from any host, for a time, it is necessary, in any scheme of eradication, to pay particular attention to cleanliness amongst domestic pels, mure especially cats and dogs. Amongst the suggestions given for their eradication from dwellings is the trapping by sticky fly-paper placed on the floors, or by placing slender rolls in a large j’oll of wire netting in beds, as fleas gather in the sleeping places of their hosts. The American experimenters have found that one of the simplest methods of destroying fleas in infested dwellings is fumigation with flake nahptluilinc, using 51 b. to an average sized room, and closing it . for 24 hours. The napthaline may be spread on papers and used repeatedly. A comparatively new insecticide, known as sodium Hour- i ide, which can he used as a powder, i works destruction amongst fleas, as i well as ants and cockroaches. An- l other remedy is the washing of 1 walls and floors of infested build- I iag- ...mukb.ii- conAsi, : ng X ( SO per cent, crude oil and 20 per i cent, whale oil, diluted with 9 parts ' of water. It is stated that (his can \ be used with safety, and .readily washes off the floors. A gallon is i given as the quantity for a room I 12ft. square. Two ounces of ere- i sal, if properly vaporised, produces 1 a greyish vapour highly poisonous ( to fleas, though not offensive to man C or domestic animals. Burning ore- I sol produces a dense black smoke, i harmless to the insects, so this this 1 .form of vaporisation should he a- f voided. I A point of importance which is 1 emphasised is that general infesta- t lion by fleas usually originates in li some dusty, undisturbed centre, and t the first step in elimination is to as- 3 certain these localities and stop n breeding by thorough cleansing, or f. treatment with some of the remedi- C es given. The minute white eggs of ii fleas are dropped mostly about the 1 sleeping places of their hosts, and 4 the larvae feed upon the organic a matter found in the dust. An ideal; s place for the culture of fleas is the F cracks and crevices of floors where ti dust is allowed to accumulate. The b sandy soil of gardens and lawns is tl also an eminently suitable breeding ii c-siure, as is also the underneath t< portions of buildings, where dogs, tl cats, and other animals can roam at p * ill. Cleanliness and disinfecting can generally get rid of the pests in most of these places. In the cases of gardens or lawns, all rubbish un- ' derneath adjoining buildings should c 1)0 removed and buried, and the sur- ! face of the ground dressed with lime or sulphur, or sprated with an insecticide. The grass of the lawn q should he cut as close to the ground _ as possible, the trimmings burned, j and the lawn kept well watered. The 1 elimination of dry dust and the a- ~ bnndance of moisture are very detrimental to fleas. ,