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Updated: Jun 14, 2025

Feeding of Ticks on Animals for Transmission and Xenodiagnosis in Lyme Disease Research
Published on: August 31, 2013
Immunohistochemical Assays to Visualize Tick-Borne Flaviviruses at the Tick Feeding Site
Rodrigo I Santos1, Meghan E Hermance2
1Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine, Campbell University, Buies Creek, NC, USA.
Abstract:
Traditional immunohistochemistry (IHC) involves chromogenic detection of target antigens by antibodies that are conjugated to enzymes. Such immunostaining of thin tissue sections enables visualization of the distribution and localization of target antigens within their proper histological context. In this chapter, we describe how tick-borne flaviviruses can be visualized at the tick feeding site via IHC. We use antibodies specific to the North American tick-borne flavivirus, Powassan virus (POWV), to demonstrate how viral antigen can be visualized in the skin of a vertebrate host that is fed upon by an infected tick.

