We provide evidence that tick-borne encephalitis virus and
Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. are accumulated in the cement plug in the host skin within the first few hours after tick attachment. Extirpation of the tick without the cement plug, even very soon after the attachment, did not prevent the transmission by
Ixodes ricinus, Ixodes persulcatus or
Dermacentor reticulatus to mice. This was within 1 hour in the case of the TBE virus and after 20–22 h of attachment, in the case of
Borrelia and
I. persulcatus. The epidemiological significance of these findings is discussed.
Key words Tick - cement plug - tick-borne encepalitis virus - Borrelia