Where to submit analyses for a tick bite? - briefly
Submit the analysis to the appropriate public‑health authority, typically the local health department or state health agency, which will route it to a certified reference laboratory. Alternative options include sending it directly to a national centre such as the CDC’s tick‑borne disease laboratory.
Where to submit analyses for a tick bite? - in detail
Submitting a detailed examination of a tick bite requires selecting the appropriate institutional or publishing outlet. The choice depends on the purpose of the analysis—clinical documentation, public‑health surveillance, or scientific dissemination.
Clinical documentation should be forwarded to the treating medical facility’s electronic health‑record system. Most hospitals and clinics have a designated pathology or infectious‑disease department that records laboratory results, treatment courses, and follow‑up outcomes. If the bite occurred in a region with a mandatory reporting scheme, the analysis must also be entered into the local health authority’s notification portal, often accessible through an online form provided by the department of public health.
Public‑health agencies maintain databases for vector‑borne disease monitoring. Submissions can be made to:
- State or provincial disease‑control offices (e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, regional health departments).
- National surveillance platforms such as the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS).
- International repositories like the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control’s TICK‑NET.
Research‑oriented investigations benefit from peer‑reviewed journals specializing in parasitology, entomology, or infectious diseases. Suitable venues include:
- Journals focusing on vector biology (e.g., «Ticks and Tick‑Borne Diseases»).
- Clinical microbiology publications (e.g., «Journal of Clinical Microbiology»).
- Open‑access platforms that accept case reports and short communications (e.g., «PLOS ONE»).
When the analysis contributes to a larger epidemiological study, data should be deposited in publicly available repositories that support standardized metadata. Recommended options are:
- The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) for occurrence records.
- The VectorBase database for genomic and transcriptomic data.
- Dryad or Figshare for supplemental datasets and methodological details.
Each submission channel typically requires a specific format: clinical reports follow institutional templates, surveillance portals demand structured case fields, and journals enforce manuscript guidelines regarding abstract length, reference style, and data availability statements. Compliance with these requirements ensures rapid processing, accurate integration into monitoring systems, and broader dissemination within the scientific community.