FAQs

Please visit our Testing Page for more information.

By understanding the diseases you’ve been exposed to after a tick bite, you can work with your physician to determine the best diagnostic and treatment plan. Knowing the tick species, length of attachment and diseases it is carrying helps determine your risk for disease transmission. Every disease has a specific amount of time required for the tick to be attached before it can be transmitted to you. Also, some tick species may be able to carry a disease, but can not transmit it to humans.

Please visit our Testing Page for more information.

We offer 3 testing panels; Basic, Advanced, and Comprehensive. For a breakdown of what is included in each panel and their costs, please refer to our Pricing Page.

Our process uses a technique known as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) which has a 99.9% accuracy rate. It is used in laboratories throughout the world and is known for being a reliable method of detecting DNA.

Tick testing gives you the benefit of knowing what diseases you have been exposed to. However, just because a tick is positive for a disease, does not mean you will contract it. Many factors need to be taken into consideration when reviewing your tick testing results including, tick species and length of attachment. Typically, the longer a tick is attached, the more likely the disease has been transmitted. If you are concerned you have contracted a tick-borne disease, speak with your physician right away.

Research shows that 64-86% of people who are positive for a tick-borne disease don’t remember finding a tick bite. If you found a tick, you have recently been exposed to tick habitat and it is possible you were bitten by a different tick that may have been positive for disease. It is also possible the tick has other diseases not covered in the testing panel you purchased. If this is a concern, consider upgrading your panel to our advanced or comprehensive testing panel. You have the option to upgrade for up to 2 years after initial testing.

Current research states only Eastern and Western blacklegged ticks can transmit Lyme disease. Even though other species may carry the disease, they are not known for passing it on to humans. However, if you are having Lyme symptoms and are concerned you may have Lyme disease, please reach out your physician immediately.

Rickettsia endosymbiont is a term referring to any type of Rickettsial bacterial species that lives inside the tick but does not cause disease in humans. Although it isn’t known for being pathogenic to humans, research suggests when Rickettsia endosymbiont is present in a tick with Lyme disease, it may speed up transmission time meaning the tick may not have to be attached and feeding for 18-24 hours before Lyme is contracted by a host.

Current research shows that only the blacklegged tick and western blacklegged tick can transmit Lyme disease. While other species of ticks may carry it, they are unable to pass it to other organisms.

Our current research has identified, out of 2,588 deer ticks tested, 30% are positive for Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. Adults typically have a higher rate of infection than nymphs and northeastern states such as Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut have a higher rate of Lyme positive deer ticks than other areas of the U.S.

No. If an adult female deer tick is a carrier of Lyme disease, it is unable to pass it to the eggs she lays. Ticks can only contract Lyme disease if they take a blood meal from an infected host. Since larva have not taken their first blood meal yet, they are unable to have or transmit Lyme disease.

No. White-tailed deer have not been shown to circulate the Lyme bacteria in their blood. Research suggests there are borreliacidal properties in deer blood that are capable of killing the bacteria that cause Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi). If a tick is infected with Lyme disease, it is because it contracted it from another animal that was infected.

Infected adult female deer ticks cannot pass Lyme disease to their eggs. This means, when the eggs hatch, the larvae do not have Lyme disease. When a tick takes its first blood meal, it is at risk for contracting Lyme disease if the animal it feeds from is infected. If the animal is not infected, the tick will remain uninfected by Lyme. Every blood meal the tick takes puts it at risk for contracting Lyme from an infected host. The deer tick will take 2-3 blood meals in its life, giving it 2-3 opportunities to become infected. If the tick becomes infected during the 1st or 2nd feeding, it can transmit diseases to any animal it feeds on after.

Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease most often transmitted by the blacklegged (deer) tick. It is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia mayonii. These bacteria are referred to as spirochete bacteria because of their flexible, spirally twisted shape. It is this shape that allows the bacteria to actively move from one location to the next within the body.

When Borrelia burgdorferi infects a tick, it remains inactive within the gut. As the tick begins to feed, the warmth and pH of the blood activates the bacteria causing it to replicate and spread from the stomach to the salivary glands of the tick. This process takes 18-24 hours after which time, the disease is able to move from the salivary glands of the tick, to the host.

Yes, dogs are at risk for contracting Lyme disease. If infected, they will experience similar symptoms to humans. However, there are no confirmed cases of Lyme disease in cats in the United States.

Unfortunately, there is no current vaccine available to protect against Lyme disease. Thanks to increase in the awareness regarding Lyme disease, the demand for a Lyme vaccine has reemerged as many biotech companies work to develop an effective and safe option to protect against the disease. There is however a Lyme vaccine available for dogs.

Yes. Deer ticks can be co-infected with many diseases at one time. Our research has identified 49% of ticks carry more than one infection.

An important component of tick survival is having a host to feed on. Deer are large mammals that can provide a meal for thousands of blacklegged ticks. When ticks feed on deer, it is unlikely the deer will try to remove the tick. This creates the perfect environment for blacklegged ticks to mate, lay eggs, and complete the last stage of the life cycle as an adult. Deer contribute to increasing the tick populations but do not spread Lyme disease.

A nymph deer tick has already taken one blood meal in its life and has potentially contracted a disease. Because nymph ticks are so small, they go unnoticed allowing them to feed for extended periods of time. The longer a deer tick is attached, the more likely they will transmit any diseases they are carrying. While adult deer ticks have fed twice in their life and have a greater chance of carrying a disease, they are larger and are normally found sooner in their attachment, reducing the risk of transmission.

Deer ticks have been identified in all U.S. states except Hawaii. They are most commonly found along the eastern coast of the United States from Florida to Maine and as far west as Texas. They are also located in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwest United States.

Deer ticks can be found under leaf-litter, at the edges of wooded areas, in areas of high grass or thick vegetation, and areas where wildlife are frequent. They require humid and shaded locations to protect them from drying out and dying.

Deer ticks will feed on more than 300 different animals. They are most commonly found feeding on shrews, chipmunks, mice, reptiles, birds, domestic animals (dogs), white-tailed deer, moose, and cattle. Of these animals, only mice, chipmunks, birds and shrews can carry and transmit Lyme disease to a feeding tick.

Once a nymph deer tick molts into an adult male, it will look for an engorged adult female to mate with. Males will sometimes feed for short periods of time for extra energy, but often won’t feed at all because once they mate with an adult female they die. Adult female deer ticks need to feed to become fully engorged with blood so they have energy to carry and lay eggs before dying.

As deer ticks feed, their bodies fill with blood and get bigger. This increase in size is referred to as engorgement and can be measured to determine how long the deer tick was feeding for.

Deer ticks are the only tick species with black legs. In the past, it was assumed blacklegged ticks contracted Lyme disease from deer. However, this is a common misconception since deer do not carry Lyme disease. Scientists have moved towards referring to deer ticks as blacklegged ticks to avoid continuing this misconception.

Ixodes pacificus or the Western blacklegged tick is very similar to the deer tick (Ixodes scapularis) but can only be found on the western coast of the U.S. in California, Oregon, and Washington. Both ticks have similar characteristics such as red bodies, black shields, no festoons on the abdomen, and long, thin mouthparts. Due to their differing locations, these ticks have evolved differently over time creating changes between them that can only be seen when looking at their genes.

After hatching from their egg, a deer tick will live for about two years and take 2-3 blood meals before mating and dying.

As nymph and adult female deer ticks feed, their bodies become larger and their shields remain the same size. A scutal index can be used to measure engorgement size, estimating the hours of attachment. When looking at a deer tick under the microscope we can take measurements of the width of the shield and the length of the body. We then divide the length of the body by the width of the shield and compare that number to a chart which gives us the approximate hours the deer tick was attached for.

One adult female deer tick can lay as many as 3,000 eggs.

Deer ticks will look for a protected and moist area to lay their eggs to prevent them from drying out such as under leaf litter, in shaded areas, under tall grass and vegetation, or under fallen trees.