Oriental rat flea, plague vector - HD stock video

Animation of an oriental rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopsis), the vector for plague. This flea is a parasite of a variety of rodents, including brown and black Rattus sp. rats. The adult form lives amongst the hairs of rodents and drinks blood from their skin. The rodents are the natural reservoir of plague, and in some cases can carry the bacteria without showing symptoms. The flea takes up the bacteria when drinking blood, and can pass the bacteria to a new host when it tries to drink from them. Transmission of plague bacteria from rats to humans has caused several deadly epidemics, including the Black Death in 14th century Europe, and the Great Plague in 1665 in London, UK