flea
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flea
[fle]a small, wingless, bloodsucking insect. Many fleas are ectoparasites and may act as disease carriers; they act as vectors of such diseases as plague, tularemia, and brucellosis.
Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
flea
(flē),An insect of the order Siphonaptera, marked by lateral compression, sucking mouthparts, extraordinary jumping powers, and ectoparasitic adult life in the hair and feathers of warm-blooded animals. Important fleas include Ctenocephalides felis (cat flea), or C. canis (dog flea), Pulex irritans (human flea), Tunga penetrans (chigger, chigoe, or sand flea), Echidnophaga gallinacea (sticktight flea), Xenopsylla (rat flea), and Ceratophyllus.
See also: Copepoda.
See also: Copepoda.
Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
flea
(flē)n.
Any of various small, wingless, bloodsucking insects of the order Siphonaptera that are parasitic on mammals and birds and can jump long distances.
The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
flea
A wingless, 1-4 mm blood-sucking member of order Siphonaptera Vector for Bubonic plague, rickettsiosis Fleas of interest Human flea–Pulex irritans, oriental rat flea–Xenopsylla cheopis, water flea–CocepodMcGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
flea
(flē)An insect of the order Siphonaptera, distinguished by lateral compression, sucking mouthparts, extraordinary jumping powers, and ectoparasitic adult life in the hair and feathers of warm-blooded animals.
Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012
flea
(fle)An insect of the order Siphonaptera. Fleas are wingless, suck blood, and have legs adapted for jumping. Usually they are parasitic on warm-blooded animals, including humans. Fleas of the genus Xenopsylla transmit the plague bacillus (Yersinia pestis) from rats to humans. Fleas may transmit other diseases such as tularemia, endemic typhus, and brucellosis. They are intermediate hosts for cat and dog tapeworms.
cat flea
See: Ctenocephalidesillustrationchigger flea
Tunga penetrans.dog flea
See: Ctenocephalideshuman flea
Pulex irritansrat flea
Xenopsylla cheopisillustrationMedical Dictionary, © 2009 Farlex and Partners
flea
any small wingless parasitic bloodsucking insect of the ENDOPTERYGOTE order Aphaniptera (Siphonaptera).Collins Dictionary of Biology, 3rd ed. © W. G. Hale, V. A. Saunders, J. P. Margham 2005