{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,10]],"date-time":"2026-10-10T19:02:04Z","timestamp":1791658924990,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,21]],"date-time":"2024-05-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1716249600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100006492","name":"Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ZIA AI000796-25"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ZIA AI000796-25"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100006492","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosbiology.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS Biol"],"abstract":"<jats:p><jats:italic>Yersinia pestis<\/jats:italic>, the causative agent of plague, is a highly lethal vector-borne pathogen responsible for killing large portions of Europe\u2019s population during the Black Death of the Middle Ages. In the wild, <jats:italic>Y<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>pestis<\/jats:italic> cycles between fleas and rodents; occasionally spilling over into humans bitten by infectious fleas. For this reason, fleas and the rats harboring them have been considered the main epidemiological drivers of previous plague pandemics. Human ectoparasites, such as the body louse (<jats:italic>Pediculus humanus humanus<\/jats:italic>), have largely been discounted due to their reputation as inefficient vectors of plague bacilli. Using a membrane-feeder adapted strain of body lice, we show that the digestive tract of some body lice become chronically infected with <jats:italic>Y<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>pestis<\/jats:italic> at bacteremia as low as 1 \u00d7 10<jats:sup>5<\/jats:sup> CFU\/ml, and these lice routinely defecate <jats:italic>Y<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>pestis<\/jats:italic>. At higher bacteremia (\u22651 \u00d7 10<jats:sup>7<\/jats:sup> CFU\/ml), a subset of the lice develop an infection within the Pawlowsky glands (PGs), a pair of putative accessory salivary glands in the louse head. Lice that developed PG infection transmitted <jats:italic>Y<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>pestis<\/jats:italic> more consistently than those with bacteria only in the digestive tract. These glands are thought to secrete lubricant onto the mouthparts, and we hypothesize that when infected, their secretions contaminate the mouthparts prior to feeding, resulting in bite-based transmission of <jats:italic>Y<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>pestis<\/jats:italic>. The body louse\u2019s high level of susceptibility to infection by gram-negative bacteria and their potential to transmit plague bacilli by multiple mechanisms supports the hypothesis that they may have played a role in previous human plague pandemics and local outbreaks.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pbio.3002625","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,21]],"date-time":"2024-05-21T17:45:37Z","timestamp":1716313537000},"page":"e3002625","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pbio.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Yersinia pestis can infect the Pawlowsky glands of human body lice and be transmitted by louse bite"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"22","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5052-5599","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"David M.","family":"Bland","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dan","family":"Long","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rebecca","family":"Rosenke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"B. 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