Flea control failure? Myths and realities

•Fleas remain a burden for pets despite wide availability of treatments.•Flea control failure is often linked to inappropriate use of products.•Poor knowledge of flea ecology favors the perception of treatment failure.•Effective flea control may require several months of persistent control efforts.•...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTrends in parasitology Vol. 30; no. 5; pp. 228 - 233
Main Authors Halos, Lénaïg, Beugnet, Frédéric, Cardoso, Luís, Farkas, Robert, Franc, Michel, Guillot, Jacques, Pfister, Kurt, Wall, Richard
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2014
Subjects
adults
Animals
Cat Diseases - prevention & control
Cats
Communicable Disease Control - standards
companion animals
Dog Diseases - prevention & control
Dogs
flea control
Flea Infestations - prevention & control
Flea Infestations - veterinary
Gastroenterology and Hepatology
immatures
Infectious Disease
integrated management
integrated pest management
pets
Pets - parasitology
risk
Siphonaptera
Siphonaptera - physiology
Treatment Failure
flea control
integrated management
treatment failure
companion animals
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Summary:•Fleas remain a burden for pets despite wide availability of treatments.•Flea control failure is often linked to inappropriate use of products.•Poor knowledge of flea ecology favors the perception of treatment failure.•Effective flea control may require several months of persistent control efforts.•Realistic expectations from pet-owners contribute to effective flea control. Why is it that, despite the proliferation of research on their biology and control, fleas remain such a burden for companion animals and their owners? This review highlights a range of reasons for persistence and apparent treatment failures. It argues that a sustainable approach will require integrated pest management based upon a detailed understanding of the flea life cycle, targeting not only adult fleas but also the immature stages in the environment, combining several modes of control and limiting the risk of chemoresistance. Individual characteristics of the pet and its environment need to be considered. Control of fleas can be achieved, over a timescale of several months, if basic rules are respected.
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ISSN:1471-4922
1471-5007
1471-5007
DOI:10.1016/j.pt.2014.02.007