Importancia del índice muro-pulido en las campañas de control de peste

Abstract

Calculation of the rat-flea index makes it possible to establish the degree of exposure to plague of an endemic area and to prevent the occurrence of outbreaks in susceptible zones. It has been observed that where the rat-flea index exceeds 1 per cent there is danger of a plague outbreak and appropriate measures must be taken to reduce it, whereas areas in which the rat-flea index is below 1 per cent may be considered free of any immediate danger

For more than 10 years due importance has been given to the reduction of the rat-flea index to safe levels in Ecuador. The results obtained in Guayaquil (index of 0.2 to 0.6 per cent) and in the Province of Manabí, where the index was reduced to below 1 per cent in most of the localities affected by plague, show that the systematic spraying of rat harborages with a mixture of cyanogas and residual-action insecticides (generally at 75 per cent DDT solution, or a 40 per cent chIordane solution) every three or four months for at least five years without interruption is a sure means of reducing the index(AU)