Drali R., Shako J. C., Davoust B., Diatta G., Raoult Didier. (2015). A new clade of african body and head lice infected by Bartonella quintana and Yersinia pestis-Democratic Republic of the Congo. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 93 (5), p. 990-993. ISSN 0002-9637.
Titre du document
A new clade of african body and head lice infected by Bartonella quintana and Yersinia pestis-Democratic Republic of the Congo
Drali R., Shako J. C., Davoust B., Diatta G., Raoult Didier
Source
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2015,
93 (5), p. 990-993 ISSN 0002-9637
The human body louse is known 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. It is also suspected in the transmission of a fourth pathogen, Yersinia pestis, which is the etiologic agent of plague. To date, human lice belonging to the genus Pediculus have been classified into three mitochondrial clades: A, B, and C. Here, we describe a fourth mitochondrial clade, Clade D, comprising head and body lice. Clade D may be a vector of B. quintana and Y. pestis, which is prevalent in a highly plague-endemic area near the Rethy Health District, Orientale Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.