| tick bites in a lyme borreliosis highly endemic area in switzerland. | the duration of tick feeding is an important indicator to evaluate the risk of borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato transmission, which increases considerably with the blood meal duration. this blood meal duration may be estimated from scutal index, the ratio between body length (idiosoma) and scutum width. for the estimation of blood meal duration in ixodes ricinus, nymphal and adult female ticks were detached at predetermined intervals (24, 48, 72, and 96h) from laboratory mice and rabbits and thei ... | 2009 | 18722157 |