Microphotographs of lice associated with trench fever and typhus, taken by F. Martin Duncan, 1918-19

Microphotographs of the louse associated with trench fever and typhus, taken by F. Martin Duncan, 1918-19

In 1915, during the First World War, soldiers began to report symptoms of a new illness which eventually became known as Trench Fever. Headaches, fever, and pain in the muscles of the legs and shins, were just some of the symptoms reported.

As Trench Fever began to have a significant impact on military manpower, in 1917, the War Office Committee on Trench Fever invited physicians and scientists to investigate what could be causing the disease.

These microphotographs were prepared by Francis Martin Duncan (1873–1961), a British naturalist and nature documentary pioneer specialising in micro-cinematography. In the early 1900s he worked with Charles Urban to produce the film series The Unseen World including The Cheese Mites, which includes a scene of a man (played by Duncan himself) horrified by the microorganisms he sees when he views a piece of Stilton through a magnifying glass.

In 1918 Duncan was part of a team who were researching Trench Fever at the Lister Institute for Preventative Medicine, as part of the War Office committee. Studies revealed that Trench fever was caused by a bacterium Bartonella quintana, transmitted to humans through the faeces of infected body lice. Living in clothing and bedding, the lice’s faeces contaminate breaks in the skin when scratched, or could be inhaled.

The microphotographs were imaged from specimens of lice fed on patients with Trench Fever, prepared on slides and examined under a microscope. Duncan and his colleagues published these images as part of their research about the incubation periods of B. quintana in the lice’s faeces and stomach. The images were published in: The Association of Rickettsia with Trench Fever, J A Arkwright, A Bacot, F Martin Duncan, J Hyg (Lond). 1919 Apr;18(1):76–94.3.

Findings like these were crucial in understanding and trying to prevent trench fever through improved sanitation and hygiene.