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Volume 31, Number 6—June 2025
Dispatch
Oral Flea Preventive to Control Rickettsia typhi–Infected Fleas on Reservoir Opossums, Galveston, Texas, USA, 2023–2024
Lucas S. Blanton
and Alejandro Villasante-Tezanos
and Alejandro Villasante-Tezanos
Table 2
Summary of pooled fleas tested in a study of use of oral flea preventive to control Rickettsia typhi–infected fleas on reservoir opossums, Galveston, Texas, USA, 2023–2024*
| Opossum no. | Total no. fleas | No. pools tested | No. positive pools |
Infection rate, % (95% CI) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R. typhi | R. felis | R. typhi | R. felis | ||||
| 1 | 50 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 (0–6.3) | 4.2 (0.8–13.3) | |
| 2 | 0† | 0 | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
| 3 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0–25.3) | 0 (0–25.3) | |
| 4 | 54 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 24.2 (12.9–42.7) | 6.1 (1.6–16.0) | |
| 5 | 150 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 0.7 (0–3.3) | 5.5 (2.3–12.0) | |
| 6 | 100 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 1.0 (0.1–4.9) | 2.1 (0.4–6.9) | |
| 7 | 89 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 (0–3.3) | 2.4 (0.5–7.8) | |
| 8 | 150 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 (0–2.1) | 3.2 (1.1–7.8) | |
| 9 |
143 |
9 |
0 |
4 |
0 (0–2.2) |
3.2 (1.1–7.9) |
|
| Total | 744 | 71 | 11 | 23 | 1.3 (0.7–2.2) | 3.2 (2.2–4.6) | |
*Flea pools consisted of 5–20 fleas and were tested by duplex real-time PCR for Rickettsia typhi and Rickettsia felis. NA, not applicable †Five fleas were found within the fur of opossum 2, but fleas escaped and were not collected.
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