@article {99,
	title = {The body louse as a vector of reemerging human diseases},
	journal = {Clinical Infectious Diseases},
	volume = {29},
	year = {1999},
	month = {1999},
	pages = {888 - 911},
	abstract = {The body louse, Pediculus humanus humanus, is a strict human parasite, living and multiplying in clothing. Louse infestation is associated with cold weather and a lack of hygiene. Three pathogenic bacteria are transmitted by the body louse. Borrelia recurrentis is a spirochete, the agent of relapsing fever, recently cultured on axenic medium. Historically, massive outbreaks have occurred in Eurasia and Africa, but currently the disease is found only in Ethiopia and neighboring countries. Bartonella quintana is now recognized as an agent of bacillary angiomatosis bacteremia, trench fever, endocarditis, and chronic lymphadenopathy among the homeless. Rickettsia prowazekii is the agent of epidemic typhus. The most recent outbreak (and the largest since World War II) was observed in Burundi. A small outbreak was also reported in Russia in 1997. Louse infestation appears to become more prevalent worldwide, associated with a decline in social and hygienic conditions provoked by civil unrest and economic instability.},
	keywords = {animals, classification, humans, Insect vectors, insecticide, lice, microbiology, phylogeny, physiology, Relapsing Fever, trench fever, typhus},
	url = {http://www.phthiraptera.info/Publications/45048.pdf},
	author = {Raoult,Didier and Roux,Veronique}
}
@article {100,
	title = {Epidemic typhus in Africa},
	journal = {Medecine Tropicale},
	volume = {59},
	year = {1999},
	note = {LR: 20041117; JID: 8710146; RF: 91; ppublish},
	month = {1999},
	pages = {181 - 192},
	address = {FRANCE},
	abstract = {Epidemic typhus is caused by a small strictly intracellular virus named Rickettsia prowazekii, a member of the Rickettsial family. It is transmitted to man by the body louse, Pediculus humanus. Although now rare in Western countries, exanthematic typhus remains common in the Southern hemisphere due to poverty, inadequate clothing hygiene, and poor socioeconomic conditions. In Africa, outbreaks have historically occurred in Burundi, Rwanda, southwest Ouganda, and Ethiopia. The largest outbreak of epidemic typhus since the World War II was reported in Burundi where ongoing civil war since October 1993 has forced 10 p. 100 of the population of Burundi to live in cold, promiscuity, and malnutrition of makeshift refugee camps. The purpose of this report based on our two-year experience working with this unfortunate population is to describe the characteristics of this disease in Africa where the epidemic form had become rare until recently. Indeed political unrest as well as numerous civil wars are now epidmiological factors favorizing outbreaks of epidemic typhus at any time. This overview also provides an opportunity to recall epidemiological, bacteriological, and clinical aspects of typhus as well as diagnosis and treatment of the disease in the context of Africa.},
	keywords = {Africa, animals, Burundi, Diagnosis, Differential, Disease Outbreaks/statistics \& numerical data, English Abstract, humans, Insect vectors, Lice/microbiology, populations, risk factors, typhus, war},
	isbn = {0025-682X},
	author = {Ndihokubwayo,J. B. and Raoult,Didier}
}
@article {69,
	title = {An experimental model of human body louse infection with Rickettsia typhi},
	journal = {Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences},
	volume = {990},
	year = {2003},
	note = {LR: 20041117; JID: 7506858; ppublish},
	month = {2003},
	pages = {617 - 627},
	address = {United States},
	abstract = {Murine (endemic) typhus caused by Rickettsia typhi, one of the most widely distributed arthropod-borne diseases, is transmitted to humans mainly by the oriental rat flea. The human body louse, Pediculus humanus corporis, has been suspected to have a role in the transmission of R. typhi to humans. To evaluate the potential role of Pediculus humanus corporis as a vector of murine typhus, we used R. typhi in an experimental model of human body louse infection previously used with R. prowazekii. A rabbit was made bacteremic by inoculating it with 2 x 10(6) plaque-forming units of R. typhi; it remained bacteremic for at least 59 hours. Two hundred body lice infected by feeding on the bacteremic rabbit were compared to 200 uninfected control lice. Each louse population was fed once a day on the abdomen of a seronegative rabbit. On day 8 post-infection, as a result of disruption of the gut cells and leakage of the blood meal into the hemolymph, four infected lice became bright red and died within four hours. The life span of infected lice was 20 days less than that of the controls. Infected lice did not transmit R. typhi to their progeny (eggs and larvae) as demonstrated by PCR amplification and cell culture. With an immunofluorescence assay, R. typhi was detected in feces from day 7 post-infection, and the organism remained viable in feces for up to 80 days as demonstrated by cell culture. From the 21st day post-infection, the rabbit used to feed the R. typhi-infected lice developed an immunoglobulin response with a titer of 1:50 increasing to 1:200 at the 42nd day post-infection. It showed no clinical signs of infection. The rabbit that was used to feed uninfected lice remained seronegative. Although body lice are not clearly identified vectors of R. typhi, it seems that under certain circumstances they could transmit R. typhi.},
	keywords = {animals, Disease Models, Animal, Feces/microbiology, humans, Lice/microbiology/pathogenicity/physiology, Rabbit, reproduction, Rickettsia typhi/pathogenicity, typhus},
	isbn = {0077-8923},
	author = {Houhamdi,Linda and Fournier,P. E. and Fang,R. and Raoult,Didier}
}
@article {70,
	title = {The geographical segregation of human lice preceded that of Pediculus humanus capitis and Pediculus humanus humanus},
	journal = {Comptes Rendus Biologies},
	volume = {326},
	year = {2003},
	note = {LR: 20041117; JID: 101140040; 0 (DNA Primers); 0 (Peptide Elongation Factor 1); 0 (RNA, Ribosomal, 18S); ppublish},
	month = {2003},
	pages = {565 - 574},
	address = {France},
	abstract = {In order to investigate human-louse phylogeny, we partially sequenced two nuclear (18S rRNA and EF-1 alpha) and one mitochondrial (COI) genes from 155 Pediculus from different geographical origins. The phylogenetic analysis of 18S rRNA and EF-1 alpha sequences showed that human lice were classified into lice from Sub-Saharan Africa and lice from other areas. In both clusters, head and body lice were clearly grouped into two separate clusters. Our results indicate that the earliest divergence within human pediculidae occurred between African lice and other lice, and the divergence between head and body lice was not the result from a single event.},
	keywords = {animals, Base Sequence, dna, geography, humans, Pediculus, phylogeny, polymerase, RNA, Ribosomal, 18S/genetics},
	isbn = {1631-0691},
	url = {http://phthiraptera.info/sites/phthiraptera.info/files/45968.pdf},
	author = {Yong,Z. and Fournier,P. E. and Rydkina,E. and Raoult,Didier}
}
