NEW TICK TESTING CRITERIA - EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2006
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) has been testing ticks for the pathogen that causes Lyme Disease. Last year, 6,000 ticks were identified and more than 4,000 ticks were tested, primarily by expensive, time-consuming DNA analyses. Approximately 34% of the tested ticks were infected.
At this time, the CAES must reduce the effort and cost for this effort. Research has revealed that flat (unengorged), infected nymphs or adults of Ixodes scapularis (the blacklegged tick) do not transmit the Lyme Disease agent until blood is ingested - tick becomes engorged. The probability of pathogen transmission increases with time as proportionately more blood is ingested from the host.
Effective January 1, 2006, the CAES will accept all ticks for identification but will only test those Ixodes scapularis nymphs and females that have ingested human blood. CAES staff will examine the ticks for blood. American dog ticks will be identified but not tested because these ticks are not an important vector of the Lyme Disease agent. This reduction in the numbers of flat ticks tested for the DNA for the Lyme Disease agent will greatly reduce laboratory costs and improve the CAES reporting of results on the blood-fed ticks.
Ticks that are removed from a Newtown resident can be brought to the Newtown Health District office, and from there it will be sent out to the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, where it will be tested for the presence of the spirochetes that cause Lyme Disease. When the tick is brought into the Health District office, the person presenting the tick will be asked to fill out a short form that includes the name of the person the tick was found on, their address, telephone number, the age of the person, the gender of the person and the body part where the tick was found. This is done at no cost to the person presenting the tick.
When the Health District receives the results for the tick testing, it is logged in the District's notebook and will also be logged on this website, by an ID number. No personal information will be distributed. If the tick tests postitive, a District staff member will also call the phone number provided at the time of tick submission and inform them of the postive result.
Due to the large numbers of ticks that are submitted, the District does not call to report the negative results. The results will be posted on the website, and submitters are also welcome to call the Health District office approximately 3-4 weeks after submission and can receive the result over the telephone.
Submitters of ticks are strongly encouraged to pay close attention to their health after a tick bite. The tick testing is helpful information but cannot be used a diagnostic tool. It takes approximately 3-4 and sometimes 5 weeks to receive results from the CT Agricultural Experiment Station. Lyme Disease, or other tick borne illnesses, can onset prior to obtaining tick test results, therefore it is important to monitor health, communicate and possibly visit with a personal physician.
Ticks are almost everywhere - take care to reduce possible exposure - and do a tick check every day.
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