“…Borrelia crocidurae ingested with the blood meal migrated from the midgut to the haemolymph by penetrating the midgut wall either intercellularly by penetrating the spaces between midgut epithelial cells or intracellularly by entering the midgut epithelium during engulfment of blood meal (Helmy et al, 1996). A decrease in bloodmeal protein digestion (Yousery, 2011) and proteolytic activity (Shanbaky et al, 2011) was observed in the gut of Ornithodoros erraticus infected with B. crocidurae. The authors attributed this decrease to the impairment of the function of the midgut epithelial cells during the penetration of B. crocidurae.…”