Head Lice of Pygmies Reveal the Presence of Relapsing Fever Borreliae in the Republic of Congo
Authors: Bernard Davoust
Nadia Amanzougaghene
Oleg Mediannikov
Nardiouf Sjelin Nsana
Florence Fenollar
Géor Mongo Ndombe
Jean Akiana
Didier Raoult
Henri-Joseph Parra
Journal: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (2016)
Discipline: IMMUNOLOGY
Keywords: Head lice; genetic diversity; mitochondrial clades; louse-borne diseases; pathogens
Affiliations: Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE), Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France., Laboratoire national de santé publique, Brazzaville, République du Congo., Campus International UCAD-IRD, Dakar, Senegal.

Abstract:  Background: Head 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 findings: Here, 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/significance: Our 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. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 The scope of this paper is head lice. The paper has been submitted in 2016. The authors declared no competing interests. However, according to a poster from the Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire de Marseille (see below), 1 of the author seems to be a founder of a pharmaceutical company called Arthrobac Pharma created in 2014. This pharmaceutical company is dedicated to the treatment of lice using ivermectin in combination with other products. Being a founder of a pharmaceutical company dedicated to the treatment of lice may be considered as a competing interest when the article address head lices. Can the author explain if he still had any interest in this pharmaceutical company when the manuscript was submitted? ![Image](http: backup.mediterranee-infection.com arkotheque client ihumed _depot_arko articles 579 poster_img.jpg) ,