What Is Crabs Disease?

By james

Reviewed: Dr. Gromatzky

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Crabs disease is not really a disease at all, but it is rather an infestation of pubic hair with an insect named Pthirus pubis, or pubic lice. Many refer to it as crabs disease, or more commonly just crabs, because the bodies of the insects do resemble tiny crabs.

Pubic lice spread from person to person through close bodily contact, so crabs is considered a sexually transmitted disease. However, there are other ways to contract it. Learn how to tell if you have pubic lice, what symptoms they cause, and how to get rid of them.

1. Types of Lice

There are over 5,000 species of lice. All of them are obligate parasites of mammals, which means they cannot live apart from a host and will die within 48 hours without one. The two main types of lice include those that suck skin secretions and other bodily fluids and those that eat skin cells.

Humans are the sole host for three types of sucking lice: head lice (Pediculus humanus var. capitis), body lice (Pediculus humanus var. corporis), and pubic lice (Pthirus pubis). Pubic lice have flat, wide bodies that measure 1.5 to 2.0 millimeters long. They cannot fly or jump but use their claws instead to clutch the pubic hairs where they spend their lives.