58 
Lice and Disease 
that I can find. It occurs in Northern Africa, like typhus, in countries 
bordering the Mediterranean. In Asia, it is recorded from India, 
China (constantly associated with typhus), the Caucasus, Turkestan, 
Siberia and Russian Central Asia. In America, it occurs in the Northern 
Continent, but apparently not in Central and South America 1 . 
Our knowledge of the cause of the disease dates from Obermeier 
(1873), who discovered the parasite, Spirochaeta recurrentis Lebert 1874. 
This parasite is so well known that it needs no further consideration 
here. Moczutovski (1876) was the first to transmit relapsing fever 
from man to man by inoculation with blood taken from a patient, 
whilst Carter (1877-8) discovered that monkeys could be similarly 
infected. Rats and mice were subsequently found to be susceptible 
to infection, and since that time a very large amount of literature has 
been published in relation to the disease. As in the case of typhus 
the parasite occurs in the blood of the affected individual; it can be 
maintained in a state of undiminished virulence for an indefinite period 
by passage through animals in series. 
2. The Experimental Demonstration that Lice convey 
Relapsing Fever. 
Mackie (14. xn. 1907, pp. 1706-1709) was the first to investigate 
the subject of lice in relation to relapsing fever. He observed an 
outbreak of the disease in a school at Nasik Mission Station, India, 
where boys and girls occupied separate buildings. When the outbreak 
began, some of the inmates departed, leaving 145 boys and 114 girls, 
of whom respectively 137 and 35 developed relapsing fever. The first 
15 girls attacked, had helped to nurse the sick boys amongst whom the 
outbreak started. At this time many of the boys harboured body- 
lice, whilst the girls were free from these parasites; some head-lice were 
found on the girls, fewer occurring upon the boys. As the outbreak 
progressed, body-lice were also found upon the girls. Mackie reported 
that Spirochaeta recurrentis was found in 14 % of the lice taken from 
the boys, and only in 2-7 % of those collected from the girls. 
Mackie failed to transmit relapsing fever to monkeys by means of 
infected lice. He states that the spirochaetes multiply in the insect’s 
1 The relapsing fever of tropical Africa is distinct from that of temperate climates 
being caused by Spirochaeta duttoni which is transmitted by a tick, Ornithodorus movbata. 
Some isolated reports of relapsing fever from Central and South America indicate that 
in these regions a species of tick may perhaps serve as a carrier. 
