Xenodiagnosis with larval I. scapularis ticks showed no evidence of B. burgdorferi in most patients after treatment, irrespective of symptoms. This may be due to absence of bacteria or to the low sensitivity of the technique in humans. This method is unlikely to detect persistent B. burgdorferi infection in humans and further research on the use of xenodiagnosis is unwarranted.
Marques et al. (Wed,) studied this question.