Evidence of sympatry of clade a and clade B head lice in a pre-Columbian Chilean mummy from Camarones

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 8; no. 10; p. e76818
• Main Authors: Boutellis, Amina, Drali, Rezak, Rivera, Mario A, Mumcuoglu, Kosta Y, Raoult, Didier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 2013; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Africa; Americas; Animals; Asia; Australia; Automation; Bartonella quintana; Base Sequence; Chile; Current distribution; Cytochromes b - classification; Cytochromes b - genetics; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Experiments; Genes, Mitochondrial - genetics; Genetic testing; Genetic Variation; Hair; Head; Host-Parasite Interactions; Humans; Lice; Lice Infestations - parasitology; Mitochondria; Mitochondrial DNA; Molecular Sequence Data; Mummies - parasitology; Paleopathology; Pediculus - classification; Pediculus - genetics; Pediculus - physiology; Pediculus humanus; Phylogeny; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; Sympatry; Time Factors; Americas; Australia; Chile; Asia; Africa
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0076818

Three different lineages of head lice are known to parasitize humans. Clade A, which is currently worldwide in distribution, was previously demonstrated to be present in the Americas before the time of Columbus. The two other types of head lice are geographically restricted to America and Australia for clade B and to Africa and Asia for clade C. In this study, we tested two operculated nits from a 4,000-year-old Chilean mummy of Camarones for the presence of the partial Cytb mitochondrial gene (270 bp). Our finding shows that clade B head lice were present in America before the arrival of the European colonists.