Disease-carrying fleas abound on New York City’s rats

In the first study of its kind since the 1920s, rats in New York City were found to carry a flea species capable of transmitting plague pathogens. In research appearing March 2 in the Journal of Medical Entomology, lead author Matthew Frye, an urban entomologist with Cornell University’s New York State Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program, reported collecting more than 6,500 …