A microscopic study ofPasteurella tularensisin the human body louse

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Abstract
1.P. tularensismay be abundant in the midgut lumen, the epithelial cells of the anterior third of the midgut, and the haemolymph of the louse. Multiplication is extracellular in the lumen and the haemolymph and intracytoplasmic in the gut cells.2. The multiplication of the tularemia organisms in the midgut epithelium eventually leads to the disruption of these cells and the break-through of the organisms into the body cavity. The growth of these organisms in the haemocoele results in the death of the louse in 4–7 days.3. Lice vary greatly in their susceptibility to infection. Some lice show complete resistance to infection; others are capable of retaining the infection essentially for their normal life span, i.e. 35 days; still others apparently succumb to a rapid increase of the organisms in a relatively brief time after infection.4. The behaviour ofP. tularensiswithin the louse presents interesting similarities to infection of lice with the rickettsiae pathogenic to humans.