Ear tissue was prepared as previously described (32 (link)). Briefly, the two sheets of ear dermis were separated from the control/infected mice, deposited in DMEM containing 100 U/ml penicillin, 100 µg/ml streptomycin, and 0.2 mg/ml Liberase CI purified enzyme blend (Roche Diagnostics Corp.), and incubated for 1h and 30 min at 37°C. Digested tissue was placed in a grinder and processed in a tissue homogenizer (Medimachine; Becton Dickenson). Retromaxillary (ear) lymph nodes were removed, and mechanically dissociated using tweezers and a syringe plunger. Tissue homogenates were filtered through a 70 µm cell strainer (Falcon Products). The single cell suspension of splenocytes were prepared after mechanical grinding a followed by ACK lysis.