In the United States, body lice infestations are rare, typically found mainly in homeless people who do not have access to bathing and regular changes of clean clothes.

They can spread rapidly under crowded living conditions where hygiene is poor (homeless, refugees, victims of war or natural disasters).

[4] Body lice can also transmit other pathogens, especially those causing epidemic typhus, trench and relapsing fevers.

[citation needed] Delousing can also be practically achieved by boiling all clothes and bedding, or washing them at a high temperature.

[7] Leaving the clothes unwashed, but unworn for a full week, also results in the death of lice and eggs.