Flea infestation of rodent and their community structure in frequent and non-frequent plague outbreak areas in Mbulu district, northern Tanzania.

Understanding rodent-ectoparasite interactions and the factors driving them is important in understanding the epidemiology of diseases involving an arthropod vector. Fleas are the primary vector for , the bacteria that causes plague and monitoring of flea population is essential for planning the potential mitigation measures to prevent the disease outbreak. In this study, we investigated flea abundance, community structure and the potential factors driving flea infestation in areas with frequent (persistent) and non-frequent plague (non-persistent) outbreaks.