How Fleas Get Inside Your Home

If you have pets, you’re at a higher risk of fleas than homes without pets. “Fleas can get into a home with or without pets, but pets are a primary route of entry,” Sked says. “In homes with pets, fleas often hitch a ride on dogs or cats that spend time outside or around other animals, whether that’s in yards, parks, kennels, or other homes.”

But your home isn’t necessarily protected from fleas just because you don’t have pets. “They can also be brought indoors indirectly by people who have been around wildlife or stray animals,” Sked says. “In some cases, rodents or stray cats in or around the home can introduce fleas.” Unfortunately, wild animals are likely to become more active during spring, which increases the risk of them bringing fleas near or into your home.

If you’ve had fleas in the past, this could also cause more fleas to appear in your home. “Fleas can remain dormant as pupae for 6–12 months and re-emerge when they detect a host through warmth or vibrations, so a previous infestation can resurface,” Sked says. The arrival of late spring can certainly help a dormant flea detect warm temperatures, potentially causing a previous infestation to awaken and become active in your home.

Risks Fleas Pose to You (and Your Pets)

Disease

“Beyond being a nuisance, fleas also pose health concerns, particularly for pets, and in some cases, for people,” Sked says. “Although still rare, fleas are carriers of some serious diseases.”

This includes murine typhus, cat scratch disease, and plague. And yes, Sked is talking about that plague: the bubonic plague that ravaged several continents in the 1300s. It lives on in some very rare cases thanks to fleas and rodents. Pets are also able to contract these diseases. Cats, in particular, are vulnerable to the bubonic plague; they may also suffer some symptoms while carrying cat scratch disease.

While it’s highly unlikely that you’ll contract these diseases from a flea infestation—there are very few cases each year in the U.S.—it’s just one more reason to do what you can to prevent a pest infestation in the first place.

Tapeworms

Rather than causing you to become patient zero, it’s much more likely that fleas will introduce tapeworms to your home.

“[The] most common health effect caused by fleas in the U.S. is the spread of certain tapeworms,” Sked says. “Fleas spread tapeworms primarily to dogs and cats, but sometimes even to humans, by acting as an intermediate host. Flea larvae eat tapeworm eggs, and as the flea matures, the parasite develops inside it. Pets can then become infected when they groom themselves and accidentally swallow an infected flea.”

There are a few key signs that your pet may have contracted a tapeworm.

“Pet owners may see parts of the parasite around their pet’s rear, in feces, or in bedding,” Sked says. “These will often look like small, white or off-white rice-like pieces, and they contain tapeworm eggs. Pets may also scoot or show signs of irritation.” If you notice these symptoms, it’s time to take your pet to the vet for treatment.

Sked notes that there is a small risk that tapeworms pose to humans, too, though pet cases are more common. To contract tapeworms, you’d need to accidentally ingest an infected flea. Sked points out that cases of tapeworm are therefore more common in children—something to keep in mind if you have young kids, especially if your pets have contracted fleas.

How to Prevent Fleas from Entering Your Home

With all the health risks fleas can pose, it’s a good idea to prevent them from ever entering your home in the first place. As the weather warms up, now is the time to focus on flea prevention.

“The best way to help prevent fleas in homes with pets is to protect your animals since they’re the primary way fleas get indoors,” Sked says. “Regularly checking pets, following veterinarian-recommended flea control, and limiting exposure to infested areas or wildlife can all help reduce the risk. Additionally, checking bedding areas both indoors and outdoors where pets commonly rest can help pet owners spot a problem sooner.”

Even if you don’t have pets, there are still steps you can take to decrease your home’s risk of a flea infestation.

“For any home, reducing wildlife activity around the property can also help prevent fleas,” Sked says. “Rodents, raccoons, and stray animals can introduce fleas into yards and surrounding areas, so limiting access to food sources and entry points can help reduce that risk.”

What to Do if You Suspect a Flea Infestation

Should you spy signs of a flea infestation, you must act quickly—flea infestations grow fast.

“Treating pets alone typically isn’t enough since the problem is often significant by the time it is noticed,” Sked says. “Effective control often requires a more comprehensive approach that targets fleas at every stage of their life cycle, including the very difficult-to-control pupae stages, which can stay dormant for months. A pest control professional, like the pros at Orkin, can help assess the situation and tailor a treatment plan to eliminate the infestation and help prevent it from returning.”