{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T00:15:57Z","timestamp":1790727357605,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene","issue":"6","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,6,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>In recent years, bed bugs have reappeared in greater numbers, more frequently, and are biting humans in many new geographic areas. Infestations by these hematophagous insects are rapidly increasing worldwide. <jats:italic>Borrelia recurrentis<\/jats:italic>, a spirochete bacterium, is the etiologic agent of louse-borne relapsing fever. The known vectors are body lice, <jats:italic>Pediculus humanus humanus<\/jats:italic>. However, previous studies have suggested that bed bugs might also be able to transmit this bacterium. Adult <jats:italic>Cimex lectularius<\/jats:italic> were artificially infected with a blood meal mixed with bacterial suspension of <jats:italic>B. recurrentis<\/jats:italic>. They were subsequently fed with pathogen-free human blood until the end of the experiment. Bed bugs and feces were collected every 5 days to evaluate the capacity of bed bugs to acquire and excrete viable <jats:italic>B. recurrentis<\/jats:italic> using molecular biology, cultures, fluorescein diacetate and immunofluorescence assays. The feces collected on the day 5 and 10 postinfection contained viable bacteria. Immunofluorescence analysis of exposed bed bugs showed the presence of <jats:italic>B. recurrentis<\/jats:italic> in the digestive tract, even in bed bugs collected on day 20 after infection. Like human body lice, bed bugs can acquire, maintain, and excrete viable <jats:italic>B. recurrentis<\/jats:italic> that might infect humans through skin lesions. This preliminary work suggests that bed bugs might be competent vectors of <jats:italic>B. recurrentis<\/jats:italic>. Because bed bugs and body lice may share the same ecological niches, the role of bed bugs in transmitting recurrent fevers deserves further study.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.18-0804","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,4,2]],"date-time":"2019-04-02T07:01:01Z","timestamp":1554188461000},"page":"1407-1412","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":36,"title":["Testing the Competence of Cimex lectularius Bed Bugs for the Transmission of Borrelia recurrentis, the Agent of Relapsing Fever"],"prefix":"10.4269","volume":"100","author":[{"given":"Basma","family":"El Hamzaoui","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, AP-HM, SSA, VITROME, Marseille, France;"},{"name":"Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e Infection, Marseille, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maureen","family":"Laroche","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, AP-HM, SSA, VITROME, Marseille, France;"},{"name":"Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e Infection, Marseille, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yassina","family":"Bechah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, AP-HM, SSA, VITROME, Marseille, France;"},{"name":"Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e Infection, Marseille, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jean Michel","family":"B\u00e9renger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, AP-HM, SSA, VITROME, Marseille, France;"},{"name":"Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e Infection, Marseille, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Philippe","family":"Parola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, AP-HM, SSA, VITROME, Marseille, France;"},{"name":"Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e Infection, Marseille, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2795","reference":[{"key":"b1","series-title":"Clin Infect Dis","first-page":"200","article-title":"Bedbugs and infectious diseases","volume":"52","author":"Delaunay","year":"2011"},{"key":"b2","series-title":"J Hyg (Lond)","first-page":"345","article-title":"The ecology of the bed-bug, Cimex lectularius L., in Britain: report on research, 1935\u201340","volume":"41","author":"Johnson","year":"1941"},{"key":"b3","series-title":"Med Vet Entomol","first-page":"148","article-title":"Potential population growth and harmful effects on humans from bed bug populations exposed to different feeding regimes","volume":"27","author":"Pereira","year":"2013"},{"key":"b4","series-title":"Monograph of Cimicidae: (Hemiptera, Heteroptera)","first-page":"538","volume":"Vol. VII","author":"Usinger","year":"1966"},{"key":"b5","series-title":"BMJ","first-page":"1141","article-title":"Is infestation with the common bedbug increasing?","volume":"320","author":"Paul","year":"2000"},{"key":"b6","series-title":"West Afr J Med","first-page":"268","article-title":"High prevalence of bedbugs Cimex hemipterus and Cimex lectularis in camps for internally displaced persons in Freetown, Sierra Leone: a pilot humanitarian investigation","volume":"21","author":"Gbakima","year":"2002"},{"key":"b7","series-title":"JAMA","first-page":"1358","article-title":"Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) and clinical consequences of their bites","volume":"301","author":"Goddard","year":"2009"},{"key":"b8","series-title":"J Hyg (Lond)","first-page":"777","article-title":"LXXXII. 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