Expert: Jack DeAngelis - 10/5/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hi Jack, going through the process of buying a home & the home inspector noticed bite marks on the back of the owner's legs during home inspection. She has 2 dogs & 2 cats. He said the bite marks were consistent with flea bites. Later that night I found what I believed to be a flea on  myself (we have no pets). My question is how can we safely rid our new home of these fleas? I am also interested in safe removal if possible, my wife is a bit skeeved out & she is a cancer surviver who is concerned about chemicals as well...thanks so much for your time.
Deryl

ANSWER: Deryl,

Fleas can remain in a home after all pets are removed and bite people. The good news is that since we are a poor host for cat fleas, in the absence of a suitable host (cat or dog), the fleas will eventually die out. I never recommend using conventional insecticides indoors and would especially avoid them in this case because of your wife's condition. Your only real option is to clean thoroughly with the vacuum cleaner and tolerate a few fleas until they die out. This could take weeks but you may be able to get 99% by cleaning alone. When finished cleaning dispose of the vacuum bag outside because it will contain live fleas.

Here's an article about fleas in general http://www.livingwithbugs.com/fleas.html that may be useful.

Good luck. Post a follow up if you have questions.

Jack DeAngelis, PhD
Extension Entomologist (ret.)
My website about home and garden pests: http://www.livingwithbugs.com



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Jack, thanks for your reply. I went to your site but I am confused on how to put together an attack plan. The person whom we bought the home from moved out with her pets on 9/29. There are 3 carpets in the house which I am removing & the rest is wood floors. We will be renovating prior to moving in so I thought maybe I could vacuum real good. I Read somewhere that salt in the vacuum bag kills the fleas. Then I also read that borax sprinkled throughout home would kill the rest. Does this seem like a good plan?

Answer
Deryl,

I think the cleaning and carpet removal will be enough. I've not heard of the salt option but I doubt it would do much good. The borax is used but it can be messy and I don't think it is necessary. Remember the fleas will die off on their own without a suitable host. If you bring a pet into the house treat it with Frontline Top Spot so it does not serve as a starting point for a new infestation.

Here's an article about Frontline http://www.livingwithbugs.com/frontlin.html and flea control.

Jack DeAngelis