Biopsy of canine ear tissue for detection of Borrelia burgdorferi following Ixodes dammini feeding.

A punch biopsy method was developed to detect and cultivate Borrelia burgdorferi from canine ear tissue. The biopsy procedure was sensitive in that spirochetes were detected in 100% of the dogs upon which infected ticks had fed. B. burgdorferi could be cultured as early as 6 days after tick feeding at which time the organisms could not be concurrently recovered from peripheral blood. The ear punch biopsy provides a reliable method for sampling live canines and should prove useful for detecting early B. burgdorferi infection and for monitoring duration of non-disseminated infection. Additionally, the procedure will aid in the development of an animal model for evaluation of preventive and therapeutic treatment modalities.