c. Head Lice. Head lice, which are closely related to body lice, are considered
to be of lesser importance in the transmission of disease. They prefer the hairy parts of
the body, particularly the head where they attach their eggs to hairs.
d. Crab Lice. No disease has definitely been linked to crab lice, but they are
annoying pests. They are recognized by their crab-like appearance. They infest the
armpits, beard, eyebrows, eyelashes, and particularly the pubic regions.
5-12. INSPECTIONS
In every military campaign, provisions to combat lice, especially body lice, must
be made in advance. Head and crab lice present individual problems; but from the
standpoint of disease, they are of far lesser importance than body lice. When troops
are located in areas where the civilian population is infested with lice, they should use
louse powder on their clothes routinely as a preventive measure. They should also be
warned to stay away from the natives. In spite of precautionary measures, the troops
may become infested, particularly if bathing facilities and changes of clothing are not
available. Under such conditions, frequent inspections must be made. Lice are not
easy to find and may become quite numerous before they are noticed. Whenever a
person's skin shows evidence of itching or of insect bites, he should carefully examine
his clothes for lice--especially at the seams where eggs and young lice are most likely to
be found. When one infested person is found, all other personnel in that particular unit
should also be examined.
5-13. UNIT DELOUSING PROCEDURES
If inspection shows that five percent or more of the unit personnel are infested
with lice, the entire unit should be dusted using mass delousing procedures. The field
sanitation team should supervise the delousing procedure.
a. Duster. For unit delousing, insecticide powder is applied with a hand duster.
Approximately two ounces of insecticide powder will be required for each person to be
dusted. The powder compartment of the hand duster is filled about three-fourths full of
louse powder. Before beginning the dusting process, the operator should test the
delivery of the powder in the open and adjust the flow as necessary to get a heavy
cloud of powder from the outlet tube.
b. Personal Dusting Procedures. The dusting is done without having the
troops remove their clothing and in such a manner that the inside of garments next to
the body as well as the body itself is covered with powder. An operator doing this work
for the first time should check the results by examining the skin and
garments of the first few men dusted. If the dusting process is done
properly, powder should cover the underwear entirely and should be visible
on the body hairs of the chest, back, armpits, crotch, and thighs. Since
body lice are most often found in the seams of clothing, particular attention
must be given to the neck, armpits, waist, shirttail, and crotch of clothing.
MD0535
5-12