PATEL T B, BHATIA S C, DEOBHANKAR R B
Bull World Health Organ. 1960;23(2-3):301-12.
The authors describe a technique, developed in their laboratory at Poona, Bombay State, for estimating the susceptibility of the oriental rat-flea, Xenopsylla cheopis, to insecticides. Using this technique, they compared the susceptibility to DDT, gamma-BHC and dieldrin of a field population of X. cheopis from a locality in Poona District which had been sprayed with DDT 28 times, with that of a similar population from a locality in North Satara District which had been sprayed only three times. The Poona strain proved to be highly resistant to DDT and moderately resistant to BHC, which has never been used in Poona District, but remained susceptible to dieldrin, although slightly less so than the Satara strain. The authors consider this a clear-cut case of the development of physiological resistance as a result of continued DDT spraying, and suggest that the rat-fleas in any area where DDT has been used on a large scale for disease control should be tested regularly for susceptibility so that, in the event of an outbreak of plague, the insecticide most likely to destroy the vector could be applied from the outset.
作者描述了一种在孟买邦浦那市他们实验室中研发出来的技术，用于评估东方鼠蚤（印鼠客蚤）对杀虫剂的敏感性。运用该技术，他们将来自浦那区一个已喷洒滴滴涕28次的地方的印鼠客蚤野外种群，与来自北萨塔拉区一个仅喷洒过三次滴滴涕的类似地方的种群，在对滴滴涕、γ-六六六和狄氏剂的敏感性方面进行了比较。结果表明，浦那种群对滴滴涕具有高度抗性，对从未在浦那区使用过的六六六具有中度抗性，但对狄氏剂仍敏感，不过比萨塔拉种群的敏感性略低。作者认为这是持续喷洒滴滴涕导致生理抗性发展的一个明确案例，并建议在任何为控制疾病而大规模使用滴滴涕的地区，应定期检测鼠蚤的敏感性，以便在鼠疫爆发时，能够从一开始就施用最有可能消灭病媒的杀虫剂。
