Abstract
BackgroundHead lice, Pediculus humanus capitis, occur in four divergent mitochondrial clades (A, B, C and D), each having particular geographical distributions. Recent studies suggest that head lice, as is the case of body lice, can act as a vector for louse-borne diseases. Therefore, understanding the genetic diversity of lice worldwide is of critical importance to our understanding of the risk of louse-borne diseases.Methodology/Principal FindingsHere, we report the results of the first molecular screening of pygmies’ head lice in the Republic of Congo for seven pathogens and an analysis of lice mitochondrial clades. We developed two duplex clade-specific real-time PCRs and identified three major mitochondrial clades: A, C, and D indicating high diversity among the head lice studied. We identified the presence of a dangerous human pathogen, Borrelia recurrentis, the causative agent of relapsing fever, in ten clade A head lice, which was not reported in the Republic of Congo, and B. theileri in one head louse. The results also show widespread infection among head lice with several species of Acinetobacter. A. junii was the most prevalent, followed by A. ursingii, A. baumannii, A. johnsonii, A. schindleri, A. lwoffii, A. nosocomialis and A. towneri.Conclusions/SignificanceOur study is the first to show the presence of B. recurrentis in African pygmies’ head lice in the Republic of Congo. This study is also the first to report the presence of DNAs of B. theileri and several species of Acinetobacter in human head lice. Further studies are needed to determine whether the head lice can transmit these pathogenic bacteria from person to another.
Highlights
The head louse, Pediculus humanus capitis, and the body louse, P. h. humanus, are obligatory hematophagous parasite that thrived exclusively on human blood for thousands of years [1, 2]
We identified the presence of a dangerous human pathogen, Borrelia recurrentis, the causative agent of relapsing fever, in ten clade A head lice, which was not reported in the Republic of Congo, and B. theileri in one head louse
Despite several investigations into the transmissibility of numerous infectious agents, no conclusive evidence has demonstrated the transmission of disease by head lice
Summary
The head louse, Pediculus humanus capitis, and the body louse, P. h. humanus, are obligatory hematophagous parasite that thrived exclusively on human blood for thousands of years [1, 2]. The head louse, Pediculus humanus capitis, and the body louse, P. h. Haplogroup A is the most common, and possesses a global distribution, including both head and body lice [1, 2, 6, 8, 9]. A novel clade D, comprising both head and body lice, was described in Democratic Republic of the Congo [6]. Pediculus humanus capitis, occur in four divergent mitochondrial clades (A, B, C and D), each having particular geographical distributions. Recent studies suggest that head lice, as is the case of body lice, can act as a vector for louse-borne diseases. Understanding the genetic diversity of lice worldwide is of critical importance to our understanding of the risk of louse-borne diseases
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