PEDICULIDAE Louse­borne pathogens such as Rickettsia prowazekii da Rocha­Lima, the agent of epidemic typhus, caused massive epidemics during most European wars and were well documented throughout the Old World. Louse­borne pathogens could have been endemic to the New World prior to the arrival of Europeans, but there are no records of any distinctive epidemics. Both head and body lice were found on the bodies of Peruvian mummies that predated the arrival of Europeans (Rick et al. 2002). A zoonotic strain of R. prowazekii caused isolated typhus cases in Georgia and North Carolina, but no cases have been reported from South Carolina (McDade 1987; Reynolds et al. 2003). These lice are cosmopolitan in distribution. The taxonomy of the Pediculidae is a controversial issue. Some authors separate Pediculus humanus Linnaeus and Pediculus capitus De Geer into different species whereas others consider them subspecies. Leo et al. (2002) using a limited 524 base pair sequence of mitochondrial DNA were unable to differentiate the two species and suggested head and body lice could be strains of a single species. Other genes or longer sequences could yield differing results. The differentiation of these two lice is important because only the human body louse is a known vector of pathogens in nature. The collectors of all human lice are omitted to avoid possible embarrassment to the infested individuals. All Pediculidae were collected from Homo sapiens Linnaeus.

Published as part of Reeves, Will K., Durden, Lance A. & Wrenn, William J., 2004, Ectoparasitic chiggers (Acari: Trombiculidae, Leeuwenhoekiidae), lice (Phthiraptera), and Hemiptera (Cimicidae and Reduviidae) from South Carolina, U. S. A., pp. 1-20 in Zootaxa 647 on page 11, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.158298