How to Test for Lyme Ticks

Knowing how to test ticks for Lyme disease is a crucial safety skill for a person and his family. Ticks are a type of parasite that feed on the blood of humans and animals. Scientists and doctors have discovered several ways to test if a person has been exposed to Lyme disease. A person can remove the tick themselves and send the tick to the lab for testing. A person can also get their blood tested, which is good especially if the tick is no longer on the body.

Instructions

Testing the Tick for Lyme Disease

• 1

  Wear a pair of gloves and use tweezers to clasp at the head of the tick and pull gently upward without twisting. Remove the body of the tick as the stomach is what potentially contains Lyme disease.

• 2

  Preserve the tick in a small plastic jar or zip-lock plastic bag.

• 3

  Disinfect the bitten area and your hands.

• 4

  Check with your state or local health departments to determine if they offer tick testing as a community service or for research purposes. The telephone numbers can be found online or in the government section of your phone book. If they have tick testing, you will most likely not need to ship the tick.

• 5

  Put the preserved tick body in an envelope or package suitable for shipping if you do not have tick testing in your local health department. Send the tick with your name, address, a reachable phone number, email address and prepayment to Analytical Services, Inc. A $65 payment is needed per tick and can be paid with a credit card (include the card number and expiration date), as well as a personal or bank check. The tick is not processed without payment.

• 6

  Send to Analytical Services, Inc by overnight or priority carrier, two day air, or UPS ground.
  Use the address:
  TICK TESTING
  Analytical Services, Inc.
  130 Allen Brook Lane
  Williston, VT 05495

Testing Humans for Lyme Disease

• 7

  Have a doctor, nurse or someone with experience draw blood from the person bitten. Conduct the tests yourself, by purchase the lab kits from laboratories such as IGenex, Inc. for a fee.

• 8

  Send the blood sample to a laboratory to conduct an ELISA, enzyme-linked immunoassay, test if you do not want to conduct the test yourself, as recommended by the Center for Disease Control. The lab links the Lyme disease antibody (or antigen) to an enzyme. If the Lyme disease antibody is in the sample, the test solution turns a different color.

• 9

  If the ELISA is negative, no further testing is needed. The CDC suggests that if the ELISA is positive or undetermined, another Western blot or striped blot test is necessary. Send the same blood sample to the laboratory for the second test. If the blot test is positive, the person definitely has Lyme Disease and should be treated right away.