ABSTRACT
We provide evidence that tick-borne encephalitis virus and Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. are accumulated in the cement plug in the host skin within the first few hours after tick attachment. Extirpation of the tick without the cement plug, even very soon after the attachment, did not prevent the transmission by Ixodes ricinus, Ixodes persulcatus or Dermacentor reticulatus to mice. This was within 1 hour in the case of the TBE virus and after 20-22 h of attachment, in the case of Borrelia and I. persulcatus. The epidemiological significance of these findings is discussed.
Subject(s)
Borrelia burgdorferi Group/isolation & purification , Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne/isolation & purification , Encephalitis, Tick-Borne/virology , Lyme Disease/microbiology , Ticks/microbiology , Ticks/virology , Animals , Arachnid Vectors/microbiology , Arachnid Vectors/virology , Borrelia burgdorferi Group/immunology , Dermacentor/microbiology , Dermacentor/virology , Female , Ixodes/microbiology , Ixodes/virology , Lyme Disease/immunology , MiceABSTRACT
Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato was detected in one out of five cement plugs of female Ixodes persulcatus ticks. The spirochetes were found by dark field microscopy as early as 18 h after attachment of the ticks to the skin of a white mouse. The relevance of this finding is discussed in relation to the epidemiology of Lyme borreliosis.
