Detection of Bartonella quintana in African Body and Head Lice

Abstract

Abstract. Currently, the body louse is the only recognized vector of Bartonella quintana, an organism that causes trench fever. In this work, we investigated the prevalence of this bacterium in human lice in different African countries. We tested 616 head lice and 424 body lice from nine African countries using real-time polymerase chain reaction targeting intergenic spacer region 2 and specific B. quintana genes. Overall, B. quintana DNA was found in 54% and 2% of body and head lice, respectively. Our results also show that there are more body lice positive for B. quintana in poor countries, which was determined by the gross domestic product, than in wealthy areas (228/403 versus 0/21, P 0.001). A similar finding was obtained for head lice (8/226 versus 2/390, P = 0.007). Our findings suggest that head lice in Africa may be infected by B. quintana when patients live in poor economic conditions and are also exposed to body lice.

Head Lice of Pygmies Reveal the Presence of Relapsing Fever Borreliae in the Republic of Congo

“…The data confirm that clade A has worldwide distribution, as reported by others [6, 8, 9, 10]. Previous studies reported that clade C is limited to Nepal and Thailand [1, 5, 23], Ethiopia, Senegal and Mali [5, 9, 18, 22]; this is the first report of clade C which has been found in the Republic of Congo. The remaining samples (10.3%) were from new haplogroup D, which is known only to exist in Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia [2, 6].…”

“…Prior research suggested that the known lice clades evolved on different lineages of Homo , similarly to those which are known to have existed 2.3 to 0.03 million years ago (MYA) [1, 11], and accordingly their geographic distribution may provide information regarding the evolutionary history of the lice as well as their human hosts [1, 2, 22]. Clade A lice are most likely to have emerged in Africa and to have evolved on the host linage that led to anatomically modern humans ( Homo sapiens ), showing the signs of a recent demographic expansion out of Africa about 100,000 years ago, first to Eurasia and subsequently to Europe, Asia, and the New World [1, 5, 12].…”

“…baumannii , and Y . pestis in natural settings [6, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23]. Furthermore, experimental infections have shown that head lice may also act as a vector of louse-borne diseases [24, 25], justifying a detailed understanding of their genetic diversity and distribution worldwide.…”

A New Clade of African Body and Head Lice Infected by Bartonella quintana and Yersinia pestis—Democratic Republic of the Congo

“…4 On the contrary, body lice infestation is prevalent in high-risk populations, such as homeless individuals and war refugees, who lack access to standard sanitary conditions and a change of clothing. 5,6 Body lice represents a real threat to humans because of their role as a vector for the transmission of three serious diseases-specifically, epidemic typhus, trench fever, and relapsing fever caused by Rickettsia prowazekii, Bartonella quintana, and Borrelia recurrentis, respectively-that have killed millions of people. 7 The body louse is also suspected in the transmission of a fourth pathogen, Yersinia pestis, which is the etiologic agent of plague.…”

Human Lice in Paleoentomology and Paleomicrobiology

“…Pediculosis due to the body louse affects exclusively precarious populations, such as the homeless, prisoners, and war refugees (12). In contrast, head lice preferentially infest schoolchildren, with hundreds of millions of cases reported each year worldwide, regardless of hygienic conditions (13).…”