3.3 Degranulation of mast cells
To detect mast cells at the attachment sites of ticks, we stained the
tissue sections with toluidine blue. Toluidine blue staining revealed
that there was no significant difference in the presence of mast cells
in the tick bite site at different feeding periods (day 0 to day 5) of
the primary infestations. In the primary infestation, very few
degranulated mast cells were found in the surrounding tissues of tick
attachment. Also, no significant increase in the infiltration and
degranulation of mast cells was noticed in the secondary and tertiary
infestations (Supplementary Figure 1).