Bed Bugs as Vetors What We Don't know Could Hurt Us

摘要

Researchers don't know if or how bed bugs act as vectors in the natural environment. But they do know that tropical bed bugs carry bacteria, including the pathogen responsible for trench fever, in the lab.Are bed bugs vectors? Do they cause more harm than nuisance—and can they spread disease? A significant tie between bed bugs and trench fever was discovered and recentlypublishedinthejournalPLOSNeglectedTropica/Diseases.Bacterium that causes trench fever is typically transmitted by lice feces. But following a laboratory study where bed bugs were fed three consecutive human blood meals inoculated with Bartonella quintana bacterium, bed bug feces showed detectable bacterium three days post-infection and during the following 18 days of observation.