Are dog fleas harmful to humans?

Well, there’s no straight forward answer to this question. There are a variety of dog fleas that carry a wide spectrum of parasites. Some of them may definitely prove hazardous to humans.

Most of us know that ticks are harmful, as they are known to cause Lyme disease, Ehrlichiosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever in dogs and people. But fleas often seem harmless and so go under our radar.

Differences between Fleas and Ticks

• Ticks have 6-8 legs and are arachnids (a class of joint-legged invertebrate animals). A flea is wingless and can jump with its 6 legs.

• A tick can feed on different hosts, whereas a flea normally stays on one host throughout its life.

• A female flea may lay 1000-1200 eggs in her lifespan, while a female tick may lay 8000-10000 eggs.

In this article, we will dive deeper in this issue and see how much a risk dog fleas pose. We will also investigate how to mitigate and remedy this situation. Though the main focus of the article is on dog fleas, but most of it will apply to other pets and ticks too.

Table of Contents

• How do dogs get fleas?
• Can dog fleas live on humans?
• Can humans get sick from dog flea bites?
• Are cat and dog fleas the same?

How do dogs get fleas?

Dogs get fleas from a variety of sources, but mostly they get it from other animals, especially other dogs. If your dog mixes a lot with stray dogs, then it’s a certainty that he will get fleas.

However, even if you are very vigilant and make sure your dog/puppy lives in most hygienic settings, he still will get infested with fleas at some point in his life. Afterall, you cannot restrain a dog indoors all the time. He will surely go out, roll in mud, and what not.

So, if you are a dog owner (or any pet owner for that matter), you will definitely have to face this issue now or then.

But can dog fleas infest humans?

Can dog fleas live on humans?

Most of us love dogs, but are petrified of the idea of getting infested with their fleas. Some of these questions are pretty natural to ask, especially if you are a first-time dog owner:

• Do dog fleas jump?
• Can dog fleas survive on human blood?
• Can dog fleas live in human hair?
• What kind of diseases we might get if dog fleas bite us?

Well, some dog fleas can jump and so they can infest us. Chances of this happening increases manifold if we cuddle with our dog a lot. This is more likely to happen if you sleep with your pet at night. Their fleas may jump off them and suck your blood for a change!

However, in most of such cases you will just feel discomfort and ache. At most, their bite will leave a mark for some days.

Just make sure to bathe your dog thoroughly and take a few baths yourself. This situation will resolve on its own soon.

Dog fleas do not like to stay on human body anyways. My dogs sometimes were infested with fleas, but I never had any flea issue – Never! Even though he used to cuddle with me all the time.

Fleas need the protective cover of animal fur to hide and lay their eggs. They must have a regular blood meal to lay eggs – almost 10-15 times its body weight each day. Only after a regular blood diet for a few days do female fleas become capable of laying eggs on animal skin or hair. These eggs become larvae in 3-14 days, and then build a cocoon around them in 5-10 days. Now, they wait for a new host.

It’s not possible in case of humans as we have very few hairs. Also, if a flea bite us, we are more likely to identify the bite and remove the flea. However, most of the animals cannot access every part of their body and so cannot remove the flea.

How long can fleas live without a host?

So, if a dog flea jumps off its host, how long will it survive?

Can dog fleas live on furniture or clothes?

Yes, fleas can survive without a host for some days, wherein they wait for a host to infest. In fact, a female flea may lay over a thousand eggs in 2-3 weeks. They fell of the pet, hatch into larvae and build a cocoon around themselves until they develop into adults. They can stay in the cocoon for up to a year without a meal.

They only come out when they detect a source for a blood meal, say a vibration or carbon dioxide.

You may find them in your lawn, trees, bushes, and even inside your house hiding in the carpet, furniture and clothes.

However, many fleas and their larvae often fall off an animal when they jump. So, you are more likely to find them in places where your pets play or jump. For example, on the floor near the bed where a pet jumps off the bed or sofa.

If you are unlucky, you may get a bite from dog fleas and get mildly sick. In rare cases, such bites may also prove fatal.

Can humans get sick from dog flea bites?

The short answer is Yes!

Though in most of the cases flea-bites are harmless, in certain cases you may get mildly sick if a dog flea bites you. There are a few diseases caused by flea bites, most of them of parasitic nature.

What diseases can humans get from dog fleas?

Let’s list down some of the zoonotic diseases we may get from dog-flea bites:

• Allergy - irritated red skin, extreme itchiness
• Tapeworm – Parasitic disease often caused when a dog or a cat swallows dust of poop infested with tapeworm eggs. Some fleas also carry eggs of tapeworms in their belly and when a pet scratches his flea-infested body part with his mouth, he may intake some of these fleas and the tapeworm eggs inside them. This issue is more prevalent in case of cats, as they indulge in self-grooming a lot more than dogs. In fact, cats lick their fur so much that they may never get flea-infested, but still end up eating up a lot of fleas.
• Plague - caused by bacteria
• Typhus – caused by bacteria
• Bartonellosis
• They can even cause anaemia if infestation is more severe. But chances of this happening in humans is rare. This issue is more critical in case of small puppies and kittens.

Note

When it comes to zoonotic diseases, cats prove to be more hazardous than dogs. The list of diseases you can get from a cat is longer and more severe than that in case of a dog.

To reduce risks of your dog getting infected with fleas and him infecting you in turn, you should take some precautions:

• Ensure general hygiene of your house, pet and yourself.
• Don’t let your dog eat poop, mud, and such other substances.
• Ideally, you should not let your dog lick you, at least no on your mouth or at any place where your skin is injured.
• After playing and cuddling with your dog, make sure to wash your hands properly at least 2 times.

Note

If you want to know about the various remedies of infestation, for your pets or for your house, you may read this article of ours.

Are cat and dog fleas the same?

In strict technical terms, they are indeed different. Cat fleas are called Ctenocephalides felis, and dog fleas are called Ctenocephalides canis.

But to identify whether a given flea is a dog flea or a cat flea, you will need to be an expert and have access to a lab with instruments like microscope.

But for all practical purposes they are the same, as each can infect the other. In fact, in North America most of the dogs (and of course cats) are infested with cat fleas.

Winding Up

So, now you know the various risks when it comes to dog fleas. The best way to avoid this issue is to maintain proper hygiene of your dog, and not letting it mix up with stray dogs. It’s almost the same as is the case with humans.

Though some of the diseases mentioned above may seem horrible, but they are extremely rare. There’s no need to get unnecessarily paranoid, until and unless there’s someone in your family with compromised immunity.

Feel free to enjoy the company of your pet. Just make sure you take care of them on a regular basis.

Note

My dog often sleeps on my bed, near my legs. Dogs are herd animals, and they like staying together with their friends. If you are more of a friend of your dog than his owner, he will prefer to stay close to you, and follow you everywhere. Let not the fear of fleas force you to push him away from much needed contact comfort.