The insecticidal activity of spinosad was evaluated against susceptible and permethrin-resistant human lice. In a permethrin-susceptible strain of the body louse, Pediculus humanus humanus L. (Anoplura: Pediculidae), the toxicity of spinosad was similar to that established for permethrin, with an LD50 value of 1.2 ng/insect and 2.4 ng/insect, respectively. Topical application of spinosad to pop...

908 Emerging Infectious Diseases • www.cdc.gov/eid • Vol. 20, No. 5, May 2014 this research team (DR) collected the eggs from the hair shaft, they were found ≈3 3.5 cm from the hair follicle. Because hair grows ≈1.25 cm per month, the louse infestation occurred ≈3 months before egg collection (6). Homeless persons that we have monitored for many years are often heavily infested by body lice but...

Clothing use is an important modern behavior that contributed to the successful expansion of humans into higher latitudes and cold climates. Previous research suggests that clothing use originated anywhere between 40,000 and 3 Ma, though there is little direct archaeological, fossil, or genetic evidence to support more specific estimates. Since clothing lice evolved from head louse ancestors on...

Current research on human louse biology has focused on the long-standing debate about speciation of head and body lice but using new tools of DNA and enzyme analysis. These studies have indicated that head and body lice from the same geographical zone may be more closely allied than insects inhabiting the same ecological niche in other regions. However, the majority of research over the past de...

This descriptive, analytical study was carried out in 2003 to determine the prevalence of pediculosis capitis and some risk factors among primary-school pupils in Kerman. We selected 1200 pupils (53% girls) from 50 primary schools by multistage, systematic random sampling. Their hair was examined for head louse infestation: 45 (3.8%) were infected with lice, 43 (95.5%) girls and 2 (4.5%) boys. ...

Blood-sucking lice of humans have extensively fragmented mitochondrial (mt) genomes. Human head louse and body louse have their 37 mt genes on 20 minichromosomes. In human pubic louse, the 34 mt genes known are on 14 minichromosomes. To understand the process of mt genome fragmentation in the blood-sucking lice of mammals, we sequenced the mt genomes of the domestic pig louse, Haematopinus suis...

Pediculus humanus capitis, the head louse, is an obligate blood-sucking ectoparasite that occurs in six divergent mitochondrial clades (A, D, B, F, C and E). Several studies reported presence of different pathogenic agents lice specimens collected worldwide. These findings suggest louse could be a dangerous vector serious public health problem. Herein, we aimed to study genetic diversity, PHUM5...

The first mycetome was discovered more than 340 yr ago in the human louse. Despite the remarkable biology and medical and social importance of human lice, its primary endosymbiont has eluded identification and characterization. Here, we report the host-symbiont interaction of the mycetomic bacterium of the head louse Pediculus humanus capitis and the body louse P. h. humanus. The endosymbiont r...