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The Human Louse and
Disease
Recent Studies Support the Critical Need for Preparedness and Lice
Prevention
"One of the greatest achievements in the war which the medical sciences
have waged against epidemic diseases is the discovery that, during times
of quiescence in interepidemic periods, the potential agents of disease
may smolder in human carriers, in domestic animals - especially rodents,
- and in insects." Hans Zinsser - Rats, Lice and
History
As the threat of old and new communicable diseases emerge,
it is critical to set public health standards that not only encourage, but
also enable parents to send their children to school lice and nit free.
http://www.headlice.org/downloads/nonitpolicy.htm
The following is a partial list of both classic and recent
research studies involving louse-borne diseases. This list continues to
grow so check back. |
Borrelia recurrentis in Head Lice, Ethiopia
2013 May
"Since the 1800s, the only known vector of Borrelia recurrentis has been the body louse. In 2011, we found B. recurrentis DNA in 23% of head lice from patients with louse-borne relapsing fever in Ethiopia. Whether head lice can transmit these bacteria from one person to another remains to be determined."
Source:
Boutellis A, Mediannikov O, Bilcha KD, Ali J, Campelo D, Barker SC, et al. "Borrelia recurrentis in head lice, Ethiopia." Emerg Infect Dis. 2013 May.
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Distinguishing body lice from head lice by multiplex real-time PCR analysis of the Phum_PHUM540560 gene
2013 Feb
"Body louse or head louse? Once removed from their environment, body and head lice are indistinguishable. Neither the morphological criteria used since the mid-18th century nor the various genetic studies conducted since the advent of molecular biology tools have allowed body lice and head lice to be differentiated. In this work, using a portion of the Phum_PHUM540560 gene from the body louse, we aimed to develop a multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to differentiate between body and head lice in a single reaction."
Source:
Drali R, Boutellis A, Raoult D, Rolain JM, Brouqui P.
PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e58088. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058088. Epub 2013 Feb 28.
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Neurological Manifestations of Bartonellosis in Immunocompetent
Patients: A Composite of Reports from 2005-2012
2012
"It is important that the medical history include questions
related to arthropod (lice, fleas, and ticks) and animal
exposures."
Source:
Journal of Neuroparasitology -
Vol. 3 (2012), Article ID 235640, 15 pages -
doi:10.4303/jnp/235640
E. B. Breitschwerdt,1 S. Sontakke,1,2 and S. Hopkins.
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Evidence That Head and Body Lice on Homeless Persons Have the Same Genotype
2012
"These findings confirm that head and body lice are two ecotypes of the same species and show the importance of implementing measures to prevent lice transmission between homeless people in shelters."
Source:
Aurélie Veracx, Romain Rivet, Karen D. McCoy, Philippe Brouqui, Didier Raoult
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Bartonella quintana in head lice from Sénégal.
2012 May
"Head and body lice are strict, obligate human ectoparasites with three mitochondrial clades (A, B, and C). Body lice have been implicated as vectors of human diseases, and as the principal vectors of epidemic typhus, relapsing fever, and Bartonella quintata-associated diseases (trench fever, bacillary angiomatosis, endocarditis, chronic bacteremia, and chronic lymphadenopathy). Using molecular methods (real-time and traditional PCR), we assessed the presence of Bartonella quintana DNA in black head lice collected from three locations in Sénégal. DNA from B. quintana was identified in 19 lice (6.93%) collected from 7 patients (7%) in Dakar. B. quintana-positive lice collected from three subjects were identified as clades C and A."
Source:
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2012 Jul;12(7):564-7. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2011.0845.
Boutellis A, Veracx A, Angelakis E, Diatta G, Mediannikov O, Trape JF, Raoult D.
Université de la Méditerranée, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France.
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Bartonella quintana in Ethiopian lice.
2012 March
"The finding of B. quintana among head lice is important given the frequency of infestations seen among humans, especially children, around the globe. The perception among the general public is that head lice do not carry pathogens, a belief that should now be rectified. Whether all genetic lineages of head lice are equally competent for this pathogen under natural circumstances remains to be elucidated by comprehensive studies of head lice from diverse locations."
Source:
Community-acquired infections
S. Cutler* (London, GB)
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Detection of Acinetobacter baumannii in head lice from elementary schoolchildren in Paris
2011 December
"The human body louse is the only known vector of Bartonella quintana. However, the presence of this bacterium has recently been detected in the head lice of homeless individuals and Nepalese slum children. Previous studies have reported the isolation of Acinetobacter baumannii from the body lice of homeless individuals. An epidemiological survey including 74 schools was conducted between 2008 and 2009 in Paris. After a first visual examination, the hair of children with suspected pediculosis was combed with a fine-tooth comb to collect live adult head lice. Molecular studies were performed on randomly selected DNA samples to detect B. quintana and A. baumannii by specific quantitative real-time PCR. Among a collection of 288 DNA samples, B. quintana was not detected, but A. baumannii was detected in 95 DNA samples (33%). Further study is needed to determine the significance of the finding of A. baumannii in head lice."
Source:
Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis. 2011 Dec;34(6):475-7. doi: 10.1016/j.cimid.2011.08.007. Epub 2011 Oct 5.
Université Paris-Est Créteil Val de Marne and Department of Dermatology, Hospital Henri Mondor, 51, avenue du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, 94010 Créteil, France.
Bouvresse S, Socolovshi C, Berdjane Z, Durand R, Izri A, Raoult D, Chosidow O, Brouqui P.
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Altitude-dependent Bartonella quintana genotype C in head lice, Ethiopia.
2011 December
"To determine the presence of Bartonella quintana in head and body lice from persons in different locations in Ethiopia, we used molecular methods. B. quintana was found in 19 (7%) genotype C head lice and in 76 (18%) genotype A body lice. B. quintana in head lice was positively linked to altitude (p = 0.014)."
Source:
Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.
Angelakis E, Diatta G, Abdissa A, Trape JF, Mediannikov O, Richet H, Raoult D.
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Bartonella quintana in Ethiopian lice.
2011 October
"The higher numbers of infected head lice pools compared with clothing lice suggests their competence for maintaining this infection within Ethiopia."
Source:
Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis 2011 Oct 21.
Cutler S, Abdissa A, Adamu H, Tolosa T, Gashaw A.
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Bartonellosis: A hidden epidemic.
2011
"Physicians should be educated as to the large number of Bartonella spp. in nature, the extensive spectrum of animal reservoir hosts, the diversity of confirmed and potential arthropod vectors, current limitations associated with diagnosis and treatment efficacy, and the ecological and evolving medical complexity of these highly evolved bacteria."
Source:
Bayer Animal Health Symposium.
Edward B. Breitschwerdt, DVM, DACVIM.
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Bartonella quintana in head louse nits.
2011 July
"Bartonella quintana DNA has been detected exclusively in head lice collected from impoverished populations such as the homeless or Nepalese children living in slums or on the streets, who are usually infested by both head and body lice. ...the role of the head louse in the maintenance and transmission of B. quintana remains to be determined."
Source:
FEMS Immunology & Medical Microbiology Volume 62, Issue 2, pages 244-246, July 2011
Emmanouil Angelakis, Jean-Marc Rolain, Didier Raoult, Philippe Brouqui.
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Body lice originate from head lice
2010 March
Until now, head lice and body lice were thought to be different species. |
Bartonella quintana in Body Lice and Head Lice from Homeless Persons, San Francisco, California, USA
June 2009
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Apes, lice and prehistory
2009 by Robin A Weiss
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Preventing and Controlling Emerging
and Reemerging Transmissible
Diseases in the Homeless.
2008 September
"Snapshot interventions have also identified the risk
for the homeless of acquiring other louse-borne diseases
such as epidemic typhus and relapsing fever, and enabled
the first isolation of A. baumanii from lice (5,32,39)."
Source:
Emerging Infectious Diseases Vol. 14, No. 9, September 2008
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Emerging and re-emerging rickettsioses: endothelial cell infection and early disease events.
2008 Walker DH, Ismail N. |
Supergroup F. Wolbachia bacteria parasitise lice.
2007 March
"This is first report of an infection of supergroup F. Wolbachia in lice."
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First Molecular Evidence of Bartonella quintana in Pediculus humanus
capitis (Phthiraptera: Pediculidae), Collected from Nepalese children
2006
“B. quintana DNA sequences were detected in both head and body lice from two children as well as in body lice derived from two other children. These results demonstrate that head lice may also play a role in the transmission of trench fever.”
Toshinori Sasaki; Shree Kanta S. Poudel; Haruhiko Isawa; Toshihiko Hayashi; Naomi Seki; Takashi Tomita; Kyoko Sawabe; Mutsuo Kobayashi |
Symbiotic Bacteria Associated with Stomach Discs of Human Lice †
2006, September
The symbiotic bacteria associated with the stomach disc, a large aggregate of bacteriocytes on the ventral side of the midgut, of human body and head lice were characterized. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the symbionts formed a distinct and well-defined clade in the Gammaproteobacteria. >>> |
Multispacer typing of Rickettsia
prowazekii enabling epidemiological studies of epidemic typhus.
September 2005
"Currently, there is no tool for typing Rickettsia prowazekii, the
causative agent of epidemic typhus, currently considered a
potential bioterrorism agent, at the strain level."
Zhu Y,
Fournier PE,
Ogata H,
Raoult D. |
Excretion of living Borrelia
recurrentis in feces of infected human body lice.
2005 June
"We conclude that, similar to epidemic typhus and trench fever,
transmission of LBRF may be caused by lice feces."
Houhamdi L,
Raoult D. |
Drugs used in treatment of pediculosis
2005 March
"This having been said, the two are so closely related that it is
naive to believe that head lice will never be shown to spread
disease."
Elston DM. |
Lice and lice-borne diseases in
humans
2005 March
Rickettsia prowazekii, Borrelia recurrentis, Bartonella quintana,
Acinetobacter baumannii
Houhamdi L,
Parola P,
Raoult D. |
Ectoparasitism and
vector-borne diseases in 930 homeless people in Marseilles
2005 January
"The uncontrolled louse infestation of this population should
alert the community to the possibility of severe re-emerging
louse-borne infections."
Brouqui P,
Stein A,
Dupont HT,
Gallian P,
Badiaga S,
Rolain JM,
Mege JL,
La Scola B,
Berbis P,
Raoult D. |
On the ubiquity and phylogeny of Wolbachia in lice
2004 November
"Here we document the apparent ubiquity and diversity of Wolbachia in the insect orders Anoplura (sucking lice) and Mallophaga (chewing lice), by detecting single or multiple infections in each of 25 tested populations of lice."
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Louse-borne human pathogen Bartella
quintana is a genomic derivative of the zoonotic agent Bartonella
henselae
2004 February
Cecilia M. Alsmark *   ,
A. Carolin Frank * ,
E. Olof Karlberg * ,
Boris-Antoine Legault *, David H.
Ardell *  ,
Björn Canbäck * ¶, Ann-Sofie
Eriksson *, A. Kristina Näslund *,
Scott A. Handley * ||, Maxime Huvet *,
Bernard La Scola * **, Martin
Holmberg
and Siv G. E. Andersson *,
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Potential role of head lice,
Pediculus humanus capitis, as vectors of Rickettsia prowazekii.
2003 June
"This review of the epidemiology of head louse and body louse
infestations, and of LBET, indicates that head lice are potential
vectors of R. prowazekii in the field."
Robinson D,
Leo N,
Prociv P,
Barker SC. |
Head Lice and body lice: (pdf)
2003 May
shared traits invalidate assumptions about evolutionary and medical distinctions |
Bartonella quintana Bacteremia
Among Homeless People
2002
C. Foucault, K. Barrau, P. Brouqui, and D. Raoult |
Human Pathogens in Body and Head
Lice
2002 November
Pierre-Edouard Fournier,* Jean-Bosco Ndihokubwayo,*
Jo Guidran, Patrick J. Kelly,§ and Didier Raoult* |
Detection of Bartonella
quintana from body lice (Anoplura: Pediculidae) infesting homeless
people in Tokyo by molecular technique.
2002 May
Sasaki T,
Kobayashi M,
Agui N. |
Experimental Model of Human
Body Louse Infection Using Green Fluorescent Protein-Expressing
Bartonella quintana
2001 March
Pierre-Edouard
Fournier,1 Michael F. Minnick,2
Hubert Lepidi,1,3 Eric Salvo,1 and
Didier Raoult1,* |
Serodiagnosis of Louse-Borne Relapsing
Fever with Glycerophophodiester Phosphodiesterase (GlpQ) from
Borrelia recurrentis
2000 October
Stephen F.
Porcella,1 Sandra J. Raffel,1
Merry E. Schrumpf,1 Martin E. Schriefer,2
David T. Dennis,2 and Tom G. Schwan1,*
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The body louse as a vector for
reemerging human diseases
1999 October
Raoult D,
Roux V. |
The neglected saliva: medically important toxins in the saliva of human lice
1998
D. Jones
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Seroprevalence to Bartonella
quintana among patients at a community clinic in downtown Seattle
1996 April
Jackson LA,
Spach DH,
Kippen DA,
Sugg NK,
Regnery RL,
Sayers MH,
Stamm WE. |
Body Lice as Tools for Diagnosis and
Surveillance of Reemerging Diseases
1999 March
Veronique
Roux and Didier Raoult*
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Emergence of Bartonella
quintana Infection among Homeless Persons
Emerging Infectious Diseases * Volume 2 * Number 2
April-June 1996 |
Head
lice as vectors of disease
L. Lance Sholdt, PhD |
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Report to the Department of Defense - Armed Forces Pest Management Board
1992 Deborah Z.
Altschuler
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Zinsser, Lice And History
1990 Deborah Z.
Altschuler
Progress, National Pediculosis Association® |
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Phoretic relationships between sucking lice (Anoplura) and
flies (Diptera) associated with humans and livestock
1990 L. A. Durden
The Entomologist - 109 |
The Louse
1939
PATRICK A. BUXTON, C.M.G., F.R.S.
Two chapters of a true classic. |
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