Risks
for Cat Flea
This is a health-concern pest for both pets and people. Texas A&M notes the adults bite cats, dogs, and humans alike, and the bites are irritating. In animals the bigger problem is often allergic: many pets develop flea allergy dermatitis (FAD), a hypersensitivity that UF/IFAS says costs U.S. owners millions of dollars a year. Source: https://texasinsects.tamu.edu/cat-flea/ Source: https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN137
Cat fleas can also pass flea-borne (murine) typhus, caused by *Rickettsia typhi*, to people. CDC explains that infection comes not from the bite but from the flea's droppings, which carry the bacteria and cause disease when scratched into broken skin. UF/IFAS likewise lists the cat flea among typhus carriers, while stressing such cases are rare. Source: https://www.cdc.gov/typhus/about/murine.html Source: https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN137
The flea is also the intermediate host for *Dipylidium caninum*, the common tapeworm of dogs and cats. UF/IFAS notes the parasite reaches the pet through the flea. Per CDC, grooming is the usual route — a pet (or, rarely, a person) ingests a flea already carrying the larvae; the few human cases are mostly young children. Source: https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN137 Source: https://www.cdc.gov/dipylidium/about/index.html
Plague is the rarest risk. UF/IFAS counts the cat flea among the fleas able to transmit plague but stresses that documented cases are uncommon. CDC adds that the bacterium is *Yersinia pestis*, that it spreads chiefly through infected flea bites, and that cats and dogs can occasionally bring plague-infected fleas indoors. Source: https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN137 Source: https://www.cdc.gov/plague/causes/index.html