Adult fleas live exclusively as parasites of warm-blooded animals, especially mammals although birds may also be used as hosts. Cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) are responsible for most domestic flea infestations, the remainder being attributed to a variety of bird and animal species.
Fleas can be vectors of disease, or may transmit parasitic worms. The most serious infection they can spread is bubonic plague, transmitted to man by rodent fleas. Rodent fleas have in the past been responsible for serious epidemics of this disease, the most famous being the Great Plague of London in 1665.
The following products have been designed for the effective control of fleas: