Where to take a tick for testing? - briefly
Use fine‑point tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible, pull straight upward, and place it in a sterile, sealed container with a damp cotton pad; then submit the specimen to a qualified medical laboratory for analysis.
Where to take a tick for testing? - in detail
Collecting a tick for diagnostic analysis requires a controlled approach to ensure specimen integrity and reliable results. The process can be divided into three stages: acquisition, preservation, and submission.
Acquisition
- Use fine‑point tweezers or a specialized tick‑removal tool to grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible, avoiding crushing the body.
- Perform removal in a well‑lit area to see the attachment point clearly.
- If the tick is found on a human, pet, or livestock, place it directly into a sterile container. For free‑living specimens, capture with a soft brush or forceps and transfer immediately.
Preservation
- Place the tick into a sealed tube containing 70 % ethanol; this prevents degradation of DNA and pathogens.
- Label the tube with date, time, exact location (geographic coordinates if possible), host species, and collector’s name.
- Keep the specimen at room temperature if it will be shipped within 24 hours; otherwise, store at 4 °C to reduce nucleic‑acid breakdown.
Submission
- Identify an accredited public health laboratory, veterinary diagnostic center, or university research facility that offers tick‑borne disease testing. Many regional health departments provide a list of approved labs.
- Follow the laboratory’s specific packaging instructions; most require a secondary container with absorbent material to contain any leakage.
- Include a requisition form specifying the tests requested (e.g., PCR for Borrelia, serology for Ehrlichia, or pathogen panel).
- Ship the specimen using a courier service that complies with biological material transport regulations, ensuring the package is marked as “Biological Specimen, Non‑Infectious”.
Additional considerations
- Verify that local regulations permit collection of ticks from wildlife; permits may be required for certain protected species.
- Wear disposable gloves throughout the procedure to prevent personal exposure.
- Record environmental data (temperature, humidity, vegetation type) as it can aid epidemiological interpretation.
Following these steps yields a high‑quality sample suitable for accurate laboratory identification of tick‑borne pathogens.