The following is a list of labs across the USA that test ticks for Lyme Disease.
Analytical Services, Inc.
Williston, VT
800-723-4432, www.analyticalservices.com
PCR: $75, dead or alive. Ziplock bag, no tape, overnight it. Turn-around time: 2 weeks.
Connecticut Pathologies Laboratories, Inc.
Willimantic, CT
860-423-2775
PCR test: $49, dead or alive, Lyme Disease only. Turn-around time: 1 week.
IgeneX, Inc.
Palo Alto, CA
800-832-3200, www.igenex.com
PCR test: $55, dead or alive. Can test for 5 things @ $55/test.
Turn-around time: 10 to 12 business days; ziplock bag.
Medical Diagnostic Laboratories
Mt. Laurel, NJ
877-269-0090
PCR test: $155 plus doctor’s prescription; dead or alive
New Jersey Division of Health and Senior Services
Division of Public Health and Environmental Laboratories
Trenton, NJ
609-292-5819
$25 for Lyme disease test; $35 for both Lyme disease and rocky mountain spotted fever. (Check for new pricing.) Live ticks only. Send in film container or other hard container with moist cotton ball. No baggies.
New Jersey Laboratories
New Brunswick, NJ
732-249-0148, 877-TICK-TEST
Culture: $60, freshly dead or alive with no chemicals used to remove tick, Lyme Disease
PCR: $175, dead or alive
In a labor intensive PCR Test (Preliminary Chain Reaction), a lab technician searches for the DNA of the pathogen on dead or live ticks. Send in whole ticks. “Anytime you have a piece of an organism missing, there’s always the possibility you can miss identifying the pathogen,” is advised by Sean P. Healy an entomologist with the mosquito commission.
In an antigen test, the surface of the organism is detected. “We look specifically for the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease, Borrelia burgdorferi,” says Janine Banks, client services supervisor at Analytical Services, Inc.
If any of you know of any other labs that test ticks for Lyme disease please let me know so that I can add them to this list.