The time required for a tick to pass Lyme bacteria to a host has been debated for many years, and oversimplified public health messaging has led to a false sense of security when ticks are believed to have fed for a day or less. In this introduction to a series of posts on pathogen transmission, we summarize some of the main factors that affect transmission times.

Tick testing does not replace diagnosis by your doctor, but it can provide fast, accurate data about the risk of Lyme and over a dozen other diseases. Nearly 36% of the pathogens we find are something other than Lyme bacteria.