AONM ArminLabs: Testing a tick for Lyme disease
Published on 13 July, 2022
What is a tick?
Ixodid ticks are tiny parasitic arachnids which depend on a blood meal to survive. They can carry and transmit infectious bacteria and parasites such as Borrelia burgdorferi causing Lyme disease, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia, Rickettsia, and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBE), among others.
Can I test a tick?
Testing the tick is the fastest way to determine your exposure to serious tick-borne diseases and, if symptoms develop, to support an early diagnosis and treatment protocol.
Pathogens will not be transmitted via every tick bite but if they are detected in the tick, please refer to your GP to discuss results.
AONM ArminLabs can test for:
- Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia miyamotoi
- Tick-borne Encephalitis Virus (TBEV)
- The presence of co-infections in tick; including Rickettsia spp., Babesia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Bartonella spp.
How to remove a tick
- Stay calm.
- DO NOT hold a flame to the tick, or cover the tick with rubbing alcohol, glue, oil, or nail varnish etc. before removal.
- Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible using fine tipped tweezers or a tick removal tool.
- Take care not to squeeze the body of the tick.
- Pull upward with steady even pressure.
- Place the tick in a sealed bag or container. The tick can be preserved in the freezer and, if you develop any symptoms, can be tested within 1-2 years.
- Clean the bite area thoroughly with soap and water.
- If mouth parts are still visible in the skin, and cannot be removed, please see a doctor.
Early treatment is crucial
The sooner treatment is given after the start of the infection, the higher the success rate and, since it is easiest to cure early disease, an acute infection must be taken VERY seriously.
Please monitor the area around the tick bite carefully, and contact your GP immediately if a rash develops or if you develop flu-like symptoms, joint and muscle pain, or symptoms of Lyme disease.
A bulls eye rash (erythema migrans) is only known to occur in Lyme disease so it is a very clear clinical indication for diagnosis but it only occurs in around 60% of cases.
