Tick Saliva Genes Key To Lyme Disease Vaccine

When a deer tick bites a human or other mammalian host, it takes more than 24 hours before the Lyme disease bacterium travels from the tick’s gut to the tick’s salivary glands and then into the host. During that time, bioactive proteins in the tick’s saliva begin to suppress the mammal’s pain response, increase blood flow to the area, and prevent clotting while at the same time battling the mammal’s immune system response to the biting arthropod.