FAQs

Anyone spending time outdoors--in the garden, on the trail, or around the playing field--should be aware of the risk of exposure to ticks and tick-borne disease. But that risk should not be debilitating. Think of it as another precaution like wearing sunscreen to protect from sun. With proper precaution, risk of tick bite exposures can be kept in proper perspective. Don't let fear of ticks keep you from enjoying outdoor activities. Visit TickEncounter.org to learn about ways to protect yourself. If you do get bitten by a tick, don't despair. Pull the tick off as soon as you find it using a pair of fine forceps. Not all ticks are infected, so consider having your tick tested to determine if it represents a risk to you. And as always see your healthcare provider if you experience signs of illness.

Previous studies of tick disease looked either at human disease cases or ticks captured in the field. Both kinds of studies are important, but they don't track the missing link between people and infected ticks. This is valuable information for assessing location and timing of disease risk. And because we are a public benefit corporation with a mission to inform the public about the risk of tick-borne disease, we collect and post information to the general public about where people are getting bitten by ticks, when those bites occur, and what pathogens are involved in those bites. This information is of great value to the general public as well as agencies trying to track tick-borne diseases.

To learn more about the public database, see our publication in Zoonotic and Vector-borne Diseases reporting the first six years of this program (2006-2012). We've tested over 95,000 ticks to date and each of these tick encounters is a valuable data point toward understanding tick-borne diseases.

To learn more about ticks and tick-borne disease, please visit our partners at the University of Rhode Island™ TickEncounter.org. Local and state health agencies as well as the CDC also provide online information about ticks and how to protect yourself. Massachusetts residents may find the Mass DPH website particularly useful. Its important to always remember that your healthcare provider is the only person that can give you medical advice or prescribe treatment and TickReport™ should never be misinterpreted as a substitute for medical diagnosis.

TickReport™ is not a substitute for medical consultation or diagnosis, but your TickReport™ does provide information about risk to you individually and when we look at all the ticks we collect, we can also provide valuable information to the rest of the world. After being bitten by a tick, many people will want to see a healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider can only guess whether your tick is a risk based on estimates of how long it has fed and what kind of tick it is. They may decide to prescribe an antibiotic based just on your notice of a tick bite. Tick testing can provide more information on the type of tick, the length of feeding, and the exact pathogens that tick did or did not carry. The presence of bacterial, viral, or protozoan pathogens may inform your doctor's approach to care. Blood test results will not be possible for weeks after your tick bite. But TickReport™ can take part of the guesswork out of the visit. Within three business days of receiving your tick (often in the same day), we can give you highly accurate information about what is inside your tick to help make better-informed decisions about protecting yourself from illnesses.

Absolutely. Your personal contact information is only used to send your results. Generic information like your tick bite are included in our passive surveillance, but there is no link with personal identity. For example, we may report the number of ticks found on adults aged 21--45 in a given town, but no details of those adults are ever shared. We report these anonymous data to let other people learn more about risks.

Our Basic DNA package includes tests for the most common tick pathogens. As part of this Basic Package we identify the tick, photograph it (dorsal and ventral), assess its feeding condition and provide test results for presence of seven major pathogens; including Borrelia (Lyme disease), Anaplasma (Anaplasmosis) and Babesia (Babesiosis). The tests applied will depend upon the species of tick you send us. You don't need to know what species of tick you have, we'll make that determination once we receive your tick. We also offer a Standard DNA+RNA test package that includes tests for viruses such as Powassan and Heartland viruses.

View our menu of tests.

We are not aware of any insurance that covers the costs of tick testing at this time. TickReport™ tests assess the risk of exposure by detecting for disease causing pathogens from the tick sample provided, it is not a medical diagnosis for the presence of any disease in the host (human or animal) bitten by the tick. Think of a tick test as being similar to a carbon monoxide detector in your home: the detector does not diagnose the effects of carbon monoxide on the occupants of the home, but provides essential information to enable making informed decisions based on risk exposure.

We accept all major credit cards or a personal check.

If you choose to pay by check, please be sure to write your order number on the check and send it along with the tick specimen(s). Checks can be made out to "MedZu Inc" or "TickReport."

We guarantee secure and private results via email within three business days of receipt or your tick sample(s). Test result emails are sent to you with a private URL. Note: you will also receive an email notification when we receive your sample(s) for tick testing and analysis.

Ticks are tested and analyzed in the order we receive them at our lab. Standard test results are typically ready in one business day. During busy times of the year advanced testing packages may require longer, but all results are guaranteed within three business days. While we understand that every tick is a priority for the individual who sent it, we perform tests as quickly as possible without sacrificing the quality and accuracy of the results.

You may upgrade your order at any time by visiting your private TickReport™ link, which is emailed to you after you complete your order.

Please note that if you upgrade after we have received your tick, additional fees may apply

Place the tick inside a sealed package, ideally a zipper lock plastic bag. If you are ordering tick testing for multiple tick samples, use one sealed package per tick for test analysis. Then place the zipper lock bags containing the samples in an envelope of your choice. While not required, if you have one on hand we recommend using a bubble wrap envelope. Clearly label any bag containing a sample and the envelope with your name and the six-digit TickReport™ order number provided.

The time between removal and testing will not affect accuracy of results significantly, and your report includes multiple quality checks to measure the condition of the DNA or RNA in the sample. Expedited shipping will provide results about your tick sooner, but is not necessary for the tick testing process.

For consistency and the greatest accuracy, we test all ticks individually. The order form allows you to add as many ticks to your order as you would like, and you will be asked to enter host and location information for each. Testing fees will apply to each sample submitted. For questions about bulk pricing (5+ samples at once), contact us at Support@TickReport.com

No, we do not send out tick kits. Please see "How should I send my tick?".

You can drop your tick off in person, but we ask that you place an order online beforehand. You can also send it through the mail if that is more convenient for you. Our office is open M-F, 10AM-4PM (ET) with exception of state and federal holidays.

We will send you an email upon receipt of your tick with some basic identification information: species, life stage, sex, feeding status, and high quality micrographs.

Yes, your tick will still be testable. Certain substances that damage nucleic acid may affect results, such as bleach, formaldehyde, formalin, etc., but these are not common.

No, your tick does not have to be alive. We are able to test ticks that are alive or dead.

Yes, a broken or partial tick can be tested to determine presence of pathogens. However, submitting “just a leg” might not yield representative results of what your tick could have been carrying in its gut or salivary glands.

No, we test ticks from all life stages, big and small.

Ticks can be stored for months, or even years, under a variety of conditions and still be successfully tested. There is no need to store or preserve a tick sample with any alcohol or preservative, but if you have done so it will not effect our ability to test the tick specimen. Avoid storing or soaking the tick in bleach, as that may damage the DNA or RNA of the pathogens we target.

Unfortunately, we cannot identify all non-tick samples. You may wish to send a photo of your non-tick specimen to the folks at identifyUs.com.

We DO NOT give medical advice and our tests are not diagnostic of human disease. Transmission of a pathogen from the tick to you is dependent upon how long the tick had been feeding, and each pathogen has its own transmission time. TickReport™ is an excellent measure of exposure risk for that tick. Feel free to print out and share your TickReport™ with your healthcare provider.

• Use EPA-registered repellents such as those containing DEET for direct application to skin.
• Use insecticides containing Permethrin for application treatments to clothing, shoes and outdoor gear.
• Wear light colored long pants tucked into socks when taking a hike in the woods; this makes spotting a tick easier and prevents them from crawling up your pants.
• When hiking in the woods, stay on clear paths and avoids the brush and leaf litter.
• When you get home from an outdoor activity, remove your clothes and throw them in the dryer for about 30 minutes. Do this before you sit on your bed or sofa.
• Check yourself and family members for ticks daily, even when you aren’t spending time in “high-risk” wooded or grassy areas.
• Keep your lawn very short and spray the perimeter of your yard to kill and ward off ticks.

If you find a tick on you, remove it immediately with a pair of fine tipped tweezers and wash the area with soap or antiseptic wipes. We recommend the TickEase tick removal tool. Consider having your tick checked for the presence of disease-causing agents.

Partially fed means that the tick had been feeding, but was not yet fully engorged. We can tell that a tick is partially fed because the shape of the tick's body changes gradually as it feeds and often the tick's mouthparts are missing because it was attached when it was removed from the host. "Partially fed" encompasses the first few days of feeding, while "engorged" and "replete" indicate longer feeding times of 4 or more days.

While the DNA technology is available to identify hosts, we do not offer this service.

Your report will include a broad description of feeding time. Ticks begin to desiccate and shrink immediately after removal, so attachment time can be difficult to determine precisely depending on the condition of the sample and how long ago the tick was removed. If you are interested in a more detailed feeding estimate after you receive your report, contact us at Support@TickReport.com and we will offer what information we can.

The RNA control is a test we do to determine whether there is amplifiable tick RNA in the specimen. It is a measure of the quality of the specimen. Approximately 20% of the specimens we receive fail this test. Tick RNA is not as durable as virus RNA, so the control is not a perfect determinant of quality. Ticks that fail this control have a higher chance of false-negative results than ticks that pass. This RNA control is only relevant to the viral tests. All other DNA-based tests (Borrelia, Babesia, Anaplasma, etc) are fully validated.

We DO NOT give medical advice and our tests are not diagnostic of human disease. While we attest the accuracy of our tests, we cannot be certain whether other ticks bit you and were undetected and untested.

You may upgrade your order at any time by visiting your private TickReport™ link, which is emailed to you after you complete your order.

Please note that if you upgrade after we have received your tick, additional fees may apply