Sandra Lee, CEO of NJ Labs, and host of the “Going Beyond Testing” podcast, there are other types of testing kits we should get familiar with this spring and summer. One important test kit to have on hand is a tick collection testing, especially during tick season (April-October). Lyme disease is a year-long problem, but most people are infected during the height of tick season. 

Lee will share with us how to properly extract a tick (so you do not accidentally spread the disease in your own bloodstream); how to safely collect and send the tick to a lab for identification and DNA-based method testing in order to identify the species and determine if it is carrying a tick-borne pathogen that could cause disease. 

If Lyme disease is identified early enough, it can be successfully treated under a doctor’s supervision. Lee says the step that most people skip after being bit is immediately collecting and sending the tick to a lab for testing. If this step is skipped, a doctor or veterinarian may have a more difficult time with the diagnosis. Although Lyme disease is the most well-known tick-borne pathogen, there are actually seven known species of ticks that bite and spread disease in the United States.