Phthiriasis palpebrarum is a rare infection caused by pubic lice Pthirus pubis. This parasite has become a public health problem since itinfestshuman eyes and has been linked with other infections like keratitis, conjunctivitis and blepharitis. The present study was carried out on 2325 patients attended Doctor Shahid Aso Hospital in Al-Sulaimaniyah province, Kurdistan region, Iraq from January to November 2017. Four patients were observed to have symptoms like itching, redness, swollen of the eyelids with the presence of tiny white objects at the base of their eyelashes. Through examination using slit lamp and florescent microscopes, it was observed that the infections were caused by infestation with adults and nymphs of Pthirus pubis. Lice and nits were removed mechanically using fine forceps followed by treatment of the patients with erythromycin eye ointment. All the patients were treated successfully. To the best of our knowledge this is the first documentation of phthariasis papebrarum in Kurdistan and Iraq. Further studies are required for better understanding the ecology, phylogeny and the potential of disease transmission of the parasite.

Introduction 1 Three divergent clades of lice can infest human: Head lice, body lice and pubic lice (Amin and A meen, 2018). The human head louse, Pediculus humanus Var. capitis De Geer, 1778, is a wingless, blood feeding parasitic insect of human that affect millions of people in d ifferent ages particularly children in all over the world (Doroodgar et al., 2011). Head lice are more prevalent in the developing countries especially in the crowded places with low socioeconomic and poor hygiene conditions (Akhter et al., 2010). Pediculus humanus capitis lives on the hu man scalp where it attaches to the hair shafts, nourish on blood and complete all the stages of its life cycle: egg, ny mph and adult

Introduction 1 Three divergent clades of lice can infest human: Head lice, body lice and pubic lice (Amin and A meen, 2018). The human head louse, Pediculus humanus Var. capitis De Geer, 1778, is a wingless, blood feeding parasitic insect of human that affect millions of people in d ifferent ages particularly children in all over the world (Doroodgar et al., 2011). Head lice are more prevalent in the developing countries especially in the crowded places with low socioeconomic and poor hygiene conditions (Akhter et al., 2010). Pediculus humanus capitis lives on the hu man scalp where it attaches to the hair shafts, nourish on blood and complete all the stages of its life cycle: egg, ny mph and adult

Introduction Domesticated chickens and pigeons are raised all over the world for the purposes of meat, egg production, feather, in addition to other commercial purposes (Appleby et al., 2004). While farmed poultry is mostly raised in special places or in villages away from cities, yet there is still a large number of people rear them in small cities. Chickens and pigeons are social animals; therefore, they are more susceptible to infection with different species of internal and external parasites (Eslami et al., 2009). The effects of parasites on poultry vary from the reduction in meat, egg production, retarding of growth and development and in the worst scenarios death in case of high infections or untreated conditions (Kumar et al., 2015). Nematodes such as Ascaridia galli, Heterakis gallinarum, and Capillaria sp. have been categorized among the common parasites of chickens and domestic pigeons in Iraq (Abdulla and Mohammed, 2013; Al-Jaumeili and Aljoburi, 2015; Al-Zubaidei, 2015). Oxyspirura mansoni, eye worm of poultry, is a less common nematode and frequently known to infect single birds, however, in endemic regions where the intermediate host is abundant, the entire flock can be affected (Santoyo-De-Estéfano et al., 2014). Cestodes such as Raillietina sp. and Chonotaenia infundibulatum have been studied in chickens in Iraq and found to cause weight loss and intestinal destruction in the infected birds (Abd et al., 2017). Eimeria sp. is also considered as a very common protozoan parasite in domestic chickens and pigeons and many species of it have been investigated in Iraq (Aljoburi, 2018). Ascaridia columbae is regarded as the most common pathogenic parasites of pigeons. It is the causative agent of ascariasis in pigeons and other types of poultry (Sari et al., 2008; Al-Barwari and Saeed, 2012). The parasite causes diarrhea, growth reduction, low production, and