Inside an unfed tick's midgut Borrelia burgdorferi expresses outer surface protein A, which lets it adhere to gut tissue. Once the tick begins feeding and warms to mammal body temperature, the spirochete switches to OspC, releases from the gut, and migrates to the salivary glands. The switch is the molecular reason attachment time matters.
An attached tick's level of engorgement is the most useful proxy for how long it has been feeding. A flat, unengorged tick is probably…
Hard ticks (Ixodidae) take one large blood meal per life stage and stay attached for days. Soft ticks (Argasidae), including Ornithodoros,…
CDC and IDSA guidance hold that Borrelia burgdorferi typically requires 36 to 48 hours of tick attachment to transmit. Removing a…
A single Ixodes scapularis nymph the size of a poppy seed can deliver Borrelia burgdorferi after roughly 36 to 48 hours of attachment.…
Within 5 to 30 minutes of biting, a hard tick begins secreting a glycine-rich saliva that hardens around its mouthparts into a cement…
A single nymph the size of a poppy seed can deliver Borrelia burgdorferi in under 36 hours of attachment.