“reservoir competence.”47 This is the measure of likelihood that a given host animal, if it’s already infected, will transmit the infection to a feeding tick. Reservoir competence varies from species to species, most likely depending on differences in the strength of immune response against the pathogen. If the immune response is weak and the blood teems with spirochetes, that species will serve as a highly “competent” reservoir of B. burgdorferi, transmitting infection to most ticks that bite it. If the immune response is strong and effective, damping down the level of blood-borne
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