Deer Tick Testing - a new approach

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Deer Tick Testing - a new approach

by DIG-IT

Analytical Services, Inc.
Williston, VT
800-723-4432, www.analyticalservices.com
PCR: $65, dead or alive. Ziplock bag, no tape, overnight it. Turn-around time: 5 business days

Connecticut Pathologies Laboratories, Inc.
Willimantic, CT
860-423-2775
PCR test: $49, dead or alive, Lyme Disease only. Turn-around time: 1 week.

IgeneX, Inc.
Palo Alto, CA
800-832-3200, www.igenex.com
PCR test: $55, dead or alive. Can test for 5 things @ $55/test.
Turn-around time: 10 to 12 business days; ziplock bag.

Medical Diagnostic Laboratories
Mt. Laurel, NJ
877-269-0090
PCR test: $155 plus doctor's prescription; dead or alive

New Jersey Laboratories
New Brunswick, NJ
732-249-0148, 877-TICK-TEST
Culture: $60, freshly dead or alive with no chemicals used to remove tick, Lyme Disease
PCR: $175, dead or alive

In a labor intensive PCR Test (Preliminary Chain Reaction), a lab tech looks for the DNA of the pathogen on dead or live ticks. Send in whole ticks. “Anytime you have a piece of an organism missing, there's always the possibility you can miss identifying the pathogen," Sean Healy advises.

In an antigen test, the surface of the organism is detected. “We look specifically for the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease, Borrelia burgdorferi," says Janine Banks, client services supervisor at Analytical Services, Inc.

To get you dog's serum tested for the disease, this lab is noted as one of the region's best:
University of CT. Vet Diagnostic Lab
860-486-3738

Learn about deer tick ecology and be safe in the woods
The two-tier test for humans
Create a Tick-Resistant Garden
New Lyme Disease Test

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