Upstate lab tests ticks for diseases -- for free

Syracuse, N.Y. -- A new laboratory at Upstate Medical University has begun testing ticks for a variety of diseases, and the service is free.

Saravanan Thangamani, director of the SUNY Center for Environmental Health and Medicine, said the lab will accept ticks mailed from anywhere in New York state. The goal, he said, is to get a better handle on where the hot spots are for tick-borne diseases, including Lyme disease and the deadly Powassan virus.

“It will allow us to understand the risk in a particular ZIP code so people there can take the appropriate precautions,” said Thangamani, who came to Syracuse in March to study tick-borne diseases.

Many tick-testing services are available now, but they often cost $50 or more per tick. Upstate’s service will be free because Thangamani wants to build a large database to help spot trends in tick-borne diseases. Having people send in ticks will broaden the reach of his five-person lab.

“Instead of us going to different areas to collect ticks, we are kind of crowdsourcing it,” he said. “It allows us to receive ticks from different ZIP codes.”

Anyone who sends in a tick will get the results of the testing by email. Thangamani cautioned, however, that if a tick tests positive in the lab for a disease that does not mean the person or animal bitten by the tick has that disease.

“Just because you find a pathogen in the tick, it doesn’t mean the human is positive for that pathogen,” he said. “This can’t be used for diagnosis or to make health-care decisions.”

Thangamani’s original plan was to accept ticks only from Central New York, but said since word has gotten out about the testing program, he has received emails from around the state.

“The response has been overwhelming, so we are now opening it to everybody" in New York, he said. “It’s too early to gauge how many we will get, but we are prepared to test a few thousand samples per month.”

In March, Thangamani moved to Central New York and brought along his entire lab team from the University of Texas at Galveston. He said a new laboratory is being built at Upstate for the lab research.

IF you find a tick on a person or a pet, here’s you can send it in, dead or alive:

Put it in a sealed plastic bag along with a piece of moist tissue paper or grass. Include a note giving the date, location (including ZIP code), email address, and whether the tick was found on a person or an animal.

Each tick will be tested for 10 separate diseases. Results will take five to seven days, the lab says.

Ticks should be mailed to:

Thangamani Lab

4209 Institute for Human Performance

505 Irving Avenue

SUNY Center for Environmental Health and Medicine

SUNY Upstate Medical University

Syracuse NY 13210

The lab’s website contains more detailed information about the testing.

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