How fleas spread emerging Rickettsia infections
Official title: Emerging Flea-Borne Rickettsial Diseases: vector competence and transmission biology
Funded at University of South Alabama · NIH-11159580 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how fleas carry and pass on Rickettsia bacteria that can make people sick, especially for people and pets in areas where these infections occur.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of South Alabama NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Mobile, United States) |
| Project start | December 1, 2015 |
| Project end | July 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $906,166 |
| NIH project number | 4R01AI122672-09 |
| Project ID | NIH-11159580 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People living in or traveling to regions with known flea-borne Rickettsia, or those with close contact with pets or rodents and unexplained fever after flea exposure, would be most relevant to follow or contribute to this work.
✕Less likely to help
People with health problems unrelated to flea exposure or to infections spread by other vectors (like ticks or mosquitoes) are unlikely to gain direct benefit from this research.
What this research studies
From my perspective as someone worried about flea-borne illness, the team is studying several Rickettsia strains that can infect people and how those strains behave inside cat fleas. They will run lab transmission experiments comparing single and mixed infections in fleas to see how different microbes affect each other's spread. Scientists will use the newly assembled cat flea genome and gene-editing tools to find flea molecules that help or block transmission. The goal is to find points where interventions could stop fleas from passing infections to people or animals.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal ways to block flea transmission and help prevent flea-borne rickettsial infections in people and pets.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies have identified Rickettsia felis as a human pathogen and shown flea transmission, but combining comparative coinfection bioassays with gene-editing in fleas is a newer and less-tested approach.
Where this research is happening
-
University of South Alabama
Mobile, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Macaluso, Kevin R. — University of South Alabama
- Study coordinator: Macaluso, Kevin R.
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.