The persistence of bacteria or its components after antibiotic therapy is controversial.  One method for detecting the presence of the organism is to use its natural vector, the Ixodes tick, to draw the bacteria out of tissues and into the tick.  The tick can then be tested for the presence of the bacteria.  This is called Xenodiagnosis.

Watch our study coordinators, Julie McCarthy and Cecily Freliech, describe xenodiagnosis and our study in patients with Lyme disease.