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louse
(lous)
pl. lice
any of various grayish, wingless insects parasitic on birds and mammals, including humans; they are usually less than half
a centimeter (one sixth of an inch) long. The order that most often attacks humans is called Anoplura (the sucking lice).
The causal organisms of typhus, relapsing fever, trench fever, and other diseases are transmitted by louse bites. The most important species parasitic on humans are Pediculus humanus capitis, the head louse; P. humanus corporis, the body or clothes louse; and Phthirus pubis, the crab louse. Endemics of head lice infestations occur most frequently in school children. Pubic lice are often sexually
transmitted. Louse infestation is called pediculosis.
Copyright 2007. An Elsevier publication. All rights reserved.
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