What are body lice?

Body lice (also called clothes lice) are tiny insects which live and lay nits (lice eggs) on clothing. They are parasites, and they need to feed on human blood to survive. They usually only move to the skin to feed.

Body lice are one of the three types of lice that live on humans. The other two types are head lice and pubic lice. Each type of lice is different, and getting one type does not mean that you will get another type.

Body lice can spread diseases, such as typhus, trench fever, and relapsing fever.

How do body lice spread?

Body lice move by crawling, because they cannot hop or fly. One way that they spread is through physical contact with a person who has body lice. They can also spread through contact with clothing, beds, bed linens, or towels that were used by a person with body lice. You cannot get lice from animals.

Who is at risk for body lice?

Body lice is most common in people who cannot bathe and wash their clothes regularly, especially if they live in crowded conditions. In the United States, this is most often homeless people. In other countries, body lice can also affect refugees and victims of war or natural disasters.

What are the symptoms of body lice?

The most common symptom of body lice is intense itching. There may also be a rash, which is caused by an allergic reaction to the bites. The itching causes some people to scratch until they get sores. Sometimes these sores can become infected with bacteria or fungi.

If someone has body lice for a long time, the heavily bitten areas of their skin can become thickened and discolored. This is most common around your midsection (waist, groin, and upper thighs).

How do you know if you have body lice?

A diagnosis of body lice usually comes from finding nits and crawling lice in the seams of clothing. Sometimes a body louse can be seen crawling or feeding on the skin. Other times it takes a magnifying lens to see the lice or nits.

What are the treatments for body lice?

The main treatment for body lice is to improve personal hygiene. That means regular showers and washing clothes, bedding, and towels at least once a week. Use hot water to wash the laundry, and dry it using the hot cycle of the dryer. Some people may also need a lice-killing medicine.

Lice are parasitic insects that can be found on people’s heads and bodies, including the pubic area. Human lice survive by feeding on human blood. Lice found on each area of the body are different from each other. The three types of lice that live on humans are

• Pediculus humanus capitis (head louse),
• Pediculus humanus corporis (body louse, clothes louse), and
• Pthirus pubis (“crab” louse, pubic louse).

Only the body louse is known to spread disease.

Lice infestations (pediculosis and pthiriasis) are spread most commonly by close person-to-person contact. Dogs, cats, and other pets do not play a role in the transmission of human lice. Lice move by crawling; they cannot hop or fly. Both over-the-counter and prescription medications are available for treatment of lice infestations.

Head Lice

Adult head lice are 2.1–3.3 mm in length. Head lice infest the head and neck and attach their eggs to the base of the hair shaft. Lice move by crawling; they cannot hop or fly.

Body Lice

Adult body lice are 2.3–3.6 mm in length. Body lice live and lay eggs on clothing and only move to the skin to feed.

Pubic

Adult pubic lice are 1.1–1.8 mm in length. Pubic lice typically are found attached to hair in the pubic area but sometimes are found on coarse hair elsewhere on the body (for example, eyebrows, eyelashes, beard, mustache, chest, armpits, etc.).

What are body lice?

Body lice are parasitic insects that live on clothing and bedding used by infested persons. Body lice frequently lay their eggs on or near the seams of clothing. Body lice must feed on blood and usually only move to the skin to feed. Body lice exist worldwide and infest people of all races. Body lice infestations can spread rapidly under crowded living conditions where hygiene is poor (the homeless, refugees, victims of war or natural disasters). In the United States, body lice infestations are found only in homeless transient populations who do not have access to bathing and regular changes of clean clothes. Infestation is unlikely to persist on anyone who bathes regularly and who has at least weekly access to freshly laundered clothing and bedding.

What do body lice look like?

Body lice have three forms: the egg (also called a nit), the nymph, and the adult.

Nit: Nits are lice eggs. They are generally easy to see in the seams of an infested person’s clothing, particularly around the waistline and under armpits. Body lice nits occasionally also may be attached to body hair. They are oval and usually yellow to white in color. Body lice nits may take 1–2 weeks to hatch.

Nymph: A nymph is an immature louse that hatches from the nit (egg). A nymph looks like an adult body louse, but is smaller. Nymphs mature into adults about 9–12 days after hatching. To live, the nymph must feed on blood.

Adult: The adult body louse is about the size of a sesame seed, has 6 legs, and is tan to greyish-white. Females lay eggs. To live, lice must feed on blood. If a louse falls off of a person, it dies within about 5–7 days at room temperature.

Where are body lice found?

Body lice generally are found on clothing and bedding used by infested people. Sometimes body lice are be seen on the body when they feed. Body lice eggs usually are seen in the seams of clothing or on bedding. Occasionally eggs are attached to body hair.

Lice found on the head and scalp are not body lice; they are head lice.

What are the signs and symptoms of body lice?

Intense itching (“pruritus”) and rash caused by an allergic reaction to the louse bites are common symptoms of body lice infestation. When body lice infestation has been present for a long time, heavily bitten areas of the skin can become thickened and discolored, particularly around the midsection of the body (waist, groin, upper thighs); this condition is called “vagabond’s disease.”

As with other lice infestations, intense itching can lead to scratching which can cause sores on the body; these sores sometimes can become infected with bacteria or fungi.

Can body lice transmit disease?

Yes. Body lice can spread epidemic typhus, trench fever, and louse-borne relapsing fever. Although louse-borne (epidemic) typhus is no longer widespread, outbreaks of this disease still occur during times of war, civil unrest, natural or man-made disasters, and in prisons where people live together in unsanitary conditions. Louse-borne typhus still exists in places where climate, chronic poverty, and social customs or war and social upheaval prevent regular changes and laundering of clothing.

How are body lice spread?

Body lice are spread through direct physical contact with a person who has body lice or through contact with articles such as clothing, beds, bed linens, or towels that have been in contact with an infested person. In the United States, actual infestation with body lice tends to occur only in persons, such as homeless, transient persons, who do not have access to regular (at least weekly) bathing and changes of clean clothes, such as homeless, transient persons.

How are body lice infestations diagnosed?

Body lice infestation is diagnosed by finding eggs and crawling lice in the seams of clothing. Sometimes a body louse can be seen on the skin crawling or feeding. Although body lice and nits can be large enough to be seen with the naked eye, sometimes a magnifying lens may be necessary to find lice or nits Diagnosis should be made by a health care provider if you are unsure about an infestation.

How are body lice treated?

See our Treatment page.

Body lice infestation is found worldwide but generally is limited to persons who live under conditions of crowding and poor hygiene who do not have access to regular bathing and changes of clean clothes, such as

• The homeless,
• Refugees, and
• Survivors of war or natural disasters.

Infestations can spread rapidly under such conditions. Body lice infestation can occur in people of all races.

Body lice are spread through direct contact with a person who has body lice or through contact with articles such as clothing, beds, bed linens, or towels that have been in contact with an infested person. However, in the United States, actual infestation with body lice tends to occur only in homeless, transient persons who do not have access to regular bathing and changes of clean clothes.

Body lice can transmit disease. Epidemics of typhus and louse-borne relapsing fever have been caused by body lice (typically in areas where climate, poverty, and social customs or war and social upheaval prevent regular changes and laundering of clothing).

Causal Agent

Pediculus humanus humanus, the body louse, is a louse insect and is an ectoparasite whose only host are humans. The louse feeds on blood several times daily and resides close to the skin to maintain its body temperature.

Life Cycle

The life cycle of the body louse has three stages: egg, nymph, and adult.

Eggs: Nits are body lice eggs. They are hard to see and are often confused for dandruff. Nits are laid by the adult female and are cemented at the base of the hair shaft nearest the skin. They are 0.8 mm by 0.3 mm, oval and usually yellow to white. Nits take about 1 week to hatch (range 6 to 9 days). Viable eggs are usually located within 6 mm of the skin.

Nymphs: The egg hatches to release a nymph. The nit shell then becomes a more visible dull yellow and remains attached to the hair shaft. The nymph looks like an adult body louse, but is about the size of a pinhead. Nymphs mature after three molts and become adults about 7 days after hatching.

Adults: The adult louse is about the size of a sesame seed, has 6 legs (each with claws), and is tan to grayish-white. In persons with dark hair, the adult louse will appear darker. Females are usually larger than males and can lay up to 8 nits per day. Adult lice can live up to 30 days on a person’s body. To live, adult lice need to feed on blood several times daily. Without blood meals, the louse will die within 1 to 2 days off the host.

Intense itching (“pruritus”) and rash caused by an allergic reaction to louse bites are common symptoms of body lice infestation. As with other lice infestations, intense itching leads to scratching which can cause sores and secondary bacterial infection of the skin.

When body lice infestation is long lasting, heavily bitten areas of the skin can become thickened and darkened, particularly in the mid-section of the body. This condition is called “vagabond’s disease.”

Body lice are known to transmit disease (epidemic typhus, trench fever, and epidemic relapsing fever).

Body lice infestation is diagnosed by finding eggs and crawling lice in the seams of clothing. Sometimes a body louse can be seen crawling or feeding on the skin.

Although body lice and nits can be large enough to be seen with the naked eye, a magnifying lens may be necessary to find crawling lice or eggs.

A body lice infestation is treated by improving the personal hygiene of the infested person, including assuring a regular (at least weekly) change of clean clothes. Clothing, bedding, and towels used by the infested person should be laundered using hot water (at least 130°F) and machine dried using the hot cycle.

Sometimes the infested person also is treated with a pediculicide, a medicine that can kill lice; however, a pediculicide generally is not necessary if hygiene is maintained and items are laundered appropriately at least once a week. A pediculicide should be applied exactly as directed on the bottle or by your physician.

If you choose to treat, guidelines for the choice of the pediculicide are the same as for head lice.

Body lice are spread most commonly by direct contact with an infested person or an infested person’s clothing or bedding. Body lice usually infest persons who do not launder and change their clothes regularly.

The following are steps that can be taken to help prevent and control the spread of body lice:

• Bathe regularly and change into properly laundered clothes at least once a week; launder infested clothing at least once a week.
• Machine wash and dry infested clothing and bedding using the hot water (at least 130°F) laundry cycle and the high heat drying cycle. Clothing and items that are not washable can be dry-cleaned OR sealed in a plastic bag and stored for 2 weeks.
• Do not share clothing, beds, bedding, and towels used by an infested person.
• Fumigation or dusting with chemical insecticides sometimes is necessary to control and prevent the spread of body lice for certain diseases (epidemic typhus).

Body lice, or Pediculus humanus corporis, are parasitic insects that can live and lay eggs on clothing and only move to the skin to feed on human blood. Lice are spread most commonly by close person-to-person contact. Body lice infestation is found worldwide.

Good hygiene can help prevent and control the spread of body lice:

• Bathe regularly and change into properly laundered clothes at least once a week; launder infested clothing at least once a week.
• Machine wash and dry infested clothing and bedding using the hot water (at least 130°F) laundry cycle and the high heat drying cycle. Clothing and items that are not washable can be dry-cleaned OR sealed in a plastic bag and stored for 2 weeks.
• Do not share clothing, beds, bedding, and towels used by an infested person.
• Fumigation or dusting with chemical insecticides sometimes is necessary to control and prevent the spread by body lice of certain diseases (epidemic typhus).