Tick Testing

There are places where the public can have ticks tested to see if they contain the Lyme bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, or to see if they contain other disease organisms which can infect humans or other animals. There are generally charges for these services.

LDA does not make recommendations about whether people should have ticks tested, reliability of tick testing, or whether people should wait for the results before seeking/getting treatment. Those are decisions that need to be made after reviewing material on the topic and discussing the benefits/risks with a professional.
 
Check with the labs for proper packaging and mailing of the ticks, the types of organisms tested for and the associated costs (e.g., Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis)
 
Examples of Tick Testing Laboratories*
LDA does provide contact information on some tick testing labs.
Some examples of tick-testing labs

See IGeneX Labs CLIA certificate   https://www.personalconsult.com/CLIA.pdf

*From Lyme Disease Association’s LymeR Primer brochure.
Click here to download brochure.
 
Example of Government Testing Laboratories in Specific Areas

1)  Monmouth County (NJ)  Mosquito Control Tick Testing for Monmouth County Residents ONLY

Check with your own state health department to see if it tests ticks
Search State Health Departments
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) offers the ability to search one or more state health departments for specific keywords or terms. Search terms are referenced against each of the state agencies checked on the search form. Results are returned ordered by state. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/state_health_departments.htm (By clicking, you are leaving the LDA site and entering the CDC website)