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Experiments on animals have demonstrated that during the initial 24 hours of tick attachment, the likelihood of transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, from an infected tick to the host is negligible. The risk of infection increases abruptly with attachment times 48 hours or longer. The aim of the study was to determine whether this observation applies to humans. In our prospective study, patients with erythema migrans-like skin lesions were examined in the Lyme borreliosis outpatient clinic of the Department of infectious diseases and febrile illnesses in July and August 1994. From 220 patients with typical erythema migrans lesions, we selected 100 patients who recalled the longest possible time of tick attachment. They were divided into two groups according to the length of tick attachment. Twenty-two percent of patients reportedly removed the tick within the first 12 hours of attachment, and 66 % within the first 24 hours. The results of the study showed that removing an infected tick from the skin within the first 48 hours of attachment does not prevent the transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi to the host.