Willy Burgdorfer’s statement about tick attachment time

Here is Willy Burgdorfer's statement about the possibility of immediate transmission of spirochetes in some cases. From a 2001 interview in NIH (National Institute of Health) archives: (BTW, the primary bacterium responsible for Lyme disease is named after Willy - borrelia burgdorferi.)

"Studies done so far suggest that it takes about two days of attachment and feeding before spirochetes are being transmitted to a host animal. This is referred to as the "safety period," during which a person could remove a tick without becoming infected. I personally don't subscribe to this theory, because there are about 5 to 10 percent of infected ticks that have a generalized infection, including salivary glands and saliva at the time of attachment. In such cases, transmission of spirochetes would and does occur immediately at time of attachment."   

—Willy Burgdorfer

https://history.nih.gov/archives/downloads/wburgdorfer.pdf

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