PRELIMINARY STUDIES ON VIRUS AND SPIROCHETE ACCUMULATION IN THE CEMENT PLUG OF IXODID TICKS

We provide evidence that tick-borne encephalitis virus and Borrelia bu rgdorferi s.l. are accumulated in the cement plug in the host skin wit hin 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 Der macentor reticulatus to mice. This was within 1 hour in the case of th e TEE virus and after 20-22 h of attachment, in the case of Borrelia a nd I. persulcatus. The epidemiological significance of these findings is discussed.