Host biology and environmental variables differentially predict flea abundances for two rodent hosts in a plague-relevant system.

While rodents frequently host ectoparasites that can vector zoonotic diseases, often little is known about their ectoparasite communities, even in places where hosts frequently interact with humans. Yosemite National Park is an area of high human-wildlife interaction and high potential zoonotic disease transfer. Nonetheless, relatively few studies have surveyed the flea communities on mammalian hosts in this area, and even fewer have characterized the environmental and host factors that predict infestation.