A sucking louse (order Anoplura) of rats and mice. The species P. serratus (the mouse louse) has been shown experimentally to be capable of transmitting tularemia and may also be a vector for murine typhus and Trypanosoma lewisi. [poly- + G. plax, plate, plaque]
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Poly·plax (polґe-plaks) a genus of sucking lice (order Anoplura), which parasitize rodents. P. miacanґtha is found on rats; P. serraґta infests rabbits and transmits tularemia; and P. spinuloґsa, the most common louse of rats, transmits murine typhus.Medical dictionary. 2011.