A workshop of the European Union (EU) Concerted Action Project on the Integ
rated Control of Ticks and Tick-borne diseases (CA-ICTTD) recently assessed
protective immune mechanisms to ticks and tick-borne diseases. The consens
us achieved there is summarized here by Patricia Preston and Frans Jongejan
. The current understanding of this field is expanded upon by the accompany
ing articles, and Poster, in this special issue of parasitology Today.