Cat fleas ( clade 'Sydney') are dominant fleas on dogs and cats in New South Wales, Australia: Presence of flea-borne spp. but absence of DNA.

The cat flea () is the most common flea species parasitising both domestic cats and dogs globally. Fleas are known vectors of zoonotic pathogens such as vector-borne spp. and spp. and could theoretically transmit , the causative agent of Q fever. A total of 107 fleas were collected from 21 cats and 14 dogs in veterinary clinics, a feline rescue organisation and a grooming salon in New South Wales, Australia, to undergo PCR detection of spp., spp. and DNA. Morphological identification confirmed that the cat flea () is the most common flea in New South Wales, Australia, with only a single stick fast flea, recorded. The examined fleas ( = 35) at the 1 locus revealed five closely related haplotypes (inter-haplotype distance < 0.5%). Multiplex TaqMan qPCR targeting the ( spp.) and ( spp.) genes was positive in 22.9% (95% CI: 11.8-39.3%) and 11.4% (95% CI: 3.9-26.6%) of samples, respectively. None of the DNA isolated from fleas was positive on TaqMan qPCRs targeting the IS, 1 and AB genes. Co-infection of with and was demonstrated using and Illumina next-generation amplicon sequencing. These findings reinforce the importance of flea control on domestic dogs and cats to effectively control the transmission of and spp. The flea, however, is unlikely to be a vector of between companion animals and humans.