Study Compares Virulence of Lyme Disease Bacterium in Fed, Unfed Ticks

"A new NIAID study suggests that Borrelia burgdorferi infectivity depends in part on previously unidentified changes that occur when deer ticks (Ixodes scapularis) take a blood meal from a mammalian host. B. burgdorferi is the spirochetal bacterium that causes Lyme disease. The study, published online March 7, 2016, in Parasites and VectorsExternal Web Site Policy, shows that as few as 30 B. burgdorferi spirochetes from fed ticks can cause infection when injected in mice, whereas an inoculum containing 10,000 spirochetes from unfed ticks is largely noninfectious."

/www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/lymeDisease/Pages/LymeVirulence.aspx

Note: notice it only takes 30 spirochetes from a tick that had previously fed to infect a mammal.

You know I love that name.

That thought occurred to me as well, GH.

If as little as 30 will cause the Lyme infection, maybe this is where the immune system strength comes into play? The stronger and faster the immune response determines who gets sicker? Interesting stuff for sure. Hopefully it will lead to continued research and answers!