Unusual outbreak of fleas leads to fumigation in Listowel

AN unusual flea outbreak has led to a fumigation operation in Listowel, the Health Service Executive (HSE) confirmed yesterday.

The homes of two Listowel ambulance personnel, along with an ambulance and the ambulance base in the town had to be closed in order to be fumigated following fleabites, earlier this month.

The drama resulted from an ambulance call to collect a patient.

“The ambulance service operated in compliance with the HSE and ambulance infection control guidelines,” said an HSE statement.

Meanwhile, public health medicine specialist Dr Paul McKeown said outbreaks of fleas were rare and people’s personal hygiene was much better than in the past.

While the likelihood of fleas carrying diseases was quite significant in areas where base levels of plague and typhus were high, he said the likelihood of diseases being passed by fleas in Ireland was rare.

“Most fleas are now probably from animals. Very few people would harbour fleas,” Dr McKeown, of the National Disease Surveillance Centre, said. He said human fleas were now largely confined to the homeless, but were probably still a force to be reckoned with amongst armies.

He also said that when outbreaks occurred, a whole house should be fumigated as fleas hid in soft material.