Got nits? Head lice is nothing compared to the 'lousy' lives of our ancestors - ABC listen

Having to get rid of the occasional outbreak of head lice is nothing compared to what our ancestors went through. 

Before the advent of DDT, most humans could expect to live with a range of lice as constant companions, and those lice helped spread deadly diseases such as typhus and the Black Death. 

Theo Evans, Associate Professor of Applied Entomology at the University of Western Australia joins Suzanne Hill in another instalment of A Bug's Life to paint a picture of humanity's long and uncomfortably close relationship with lice.