A phagocytophila p44 DNA copy number amplified from skin associated with tick sites and suture sites using quantitative PCR.

Lines represent average ± SE (n = 4 to 8 mice per strain per sample period). *Significant differences between tick (A) and suture (B) skin sites and adjacent noninflamed skin sites sampled at the same time (P < .05). *** indicates that inflamed skin in all 3 mouse strains (B6, CD11a^−/−, and CD11b^−/−) is significantly different than adjacent noninflamed skin. Note that suture (B) elicits 100 to 150 times greater neutrophil-pathogen accumulation than tick feeding (A).