Improve tick-borne pathogen surveillance with ticks you submitted for TickReport testing in the past.
As you know, the TickReport lab preserves the extracted DNA and RNA from your tick, and our freezers are full of nucleic acids from every tick we have received since 2006.
This October, we have a chance to re-draw the map of tick-borne viruses in North America using those archived samples. For the last four years, public health attention and resources have been focused on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, but tick-borne pathogens have continued to cause illness for people and pets. This sponsored project aims to identify and map the distribution of these tick-borne viruses that people may have encountered during the COVID-19 era.
With your help, we have an opportunity to screen over 25,000 samples submitted from 60 states, provinces, and territories for the presence of tick-borne virus RNA. In areas where the presence of those viruses has already been confirmed, virus testing will help to clarify the rate of infection by increasing the sample size available. In areas where these viruses have not been reported, this new data may identify regions where we may be exposed to unknown viruses.
Join the project and add testing to your archived samples now.
The main focus of this project is the RNA viruses that are normally included at the $100 DNA + RNA level of TickReport testing. Matching funds will reduce that upgrade fee from $50 per sample to $25 per sample.
We also know that there is significant public interest in some of the less common DNA pathogens that are included at the Comprehensive level (normally $200). That upgrade option is also available at a 50% discount. Use the appropriate button below to arrange testing. For multiple samples, please use the quantity feature to arrange the appropriate number of samples you wish to test.
Have any questions before you join the project? Contact us at Support@TickReport.com.
Matching funding is available through the end of October 2024. Join us today!
What do we expect to learn from this research?
Any tick surveillance project is only as good as the questions it asks. Budget limitations mean that only a handful of the most most common pathogens are tested in many projects, and that can really limit how much is known about the distribution of tick pathogens.
A few past examples of TickReport testing revealing the presence of unknown pathogens center on the discovery of Bourbon virus and Heartland virus on Long Island in New York State. Historically, reports of these two viruses have been concentrated in the the upper part of the Southeastern U.S. and Midwest. Surveillance has focused in those states and those that border them, watching for a gradual expansion of endemic territory.
But tick-borne pathogens don’t always move organically through the natural migration of mammals and arthropods. Humans and dogs in particular are, unfortunately, fantastic transportation for ticks and their infections. As a result, we are seeing more surprise infections in high travel areas that draw people from outside the region. Long Island is one example. Bourbon virus and Heartland virus were detected in ticks submitted to the TickReport testing lab from Long Island, and extensive fieldwork by the New York Department of Health and other agencies found that both viruses were well-established in the region. You can read more about those studies at the links below.
Bourbon Virus Transmission, New York, USA
Heartland Virus Transmission, Suffolk County, New York, USA
The goal of this project is to maximize the surveillance data we can get across as wide a geographic area as possible. Where viruses are already established, new data will help to confirm the prevalence of pathogens and highlight potential hot spots. In areas where viruses aren’t known, we may fill in gaps in surveillance that will improve future research in that region.
What are tick-borne viruses?
The most common tick-borne pathogens that are on most people’s radar as they spend time outdoors are bacteria; the most famous of these is Borrelia burgdorferi (the causative agent of Lyme disease). Other common bacteria include other species of Borrelia as well as Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Rickettsia, and members of several other genera. Bacteria are detected with DNA testing, and human infections are treated with antibiotics.
Viruses are very different from bacteria, and require specialized techniques that target RNA instead of DNA. Like viruses that cause the common cold, flu, or COVID, tick-borne viral infections are not treated with antibiotics, and the illness typically runs its course. Clinical testing is not widely available, particularly in areas where the presence of these tick-borne viruses has not been confirmed, so many infections may go undiagnosed and unreported.
Tick-borne viruses included in TickReport surveillance:
Powassan virus (type 1 and type 2 or DTV)
Bourbon virus
Colorado Tick Fever virus
Heartland virus
Tick-borne encephalitis virus
Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome virus
Tick Testing FAQs
How does this challenge match work?
The goal of this project is to maximize pathogen testing for ticks submitted to the TickReport lab between April 2021 and September 2024. People who submitted ticks during those periods have the opportunity to add additional testing to their sample at 50% of the normal upgrade price thanks to matching funding we have secured.
To add testing to your sample or samples, use the links on this page to submit payment. If you are interested in adding tests to more than five tick samples, contact us about bulk pricing.
As each order for upgraded testing is received, our technicians will withdraw the preserved nucleic acids matching that sample from our freezer archive, carefully thaw them and prepare for testing, then run the appropriate qPCR tests for the upgraded pathogens.
Which tick samples are eligible for this matching challenge funding?
Matching funds apply to any tick sample already in our freezer archive that was tested between April 1, 2021 and September 30, 2024. This fund match does not apply to ticks submitted or received after October 1, 2024.
What information will I receive? Will results of the project be made public?
Individuals who upgrade the testing level on a tick submitted in the past will receive an updated TickReport that includes the new pathogen results. A secure link to that report will be delivered via email in the same way that the initial test results were delivered.
Anonymous and aggregated data will be added to this webpage by the end of the year when all new data is compiled. Data tied to individual samples will also be added to the TickReport Tick-borne Disease Passive Surveillance Database, which includes test results from all ticks we have tested since 2006.
How soon will I receive results?
Individual results will be posted to your private TickReport page within seven days of your order.
How long do I have to decide on upgraded testing?
Extracted DNA and RNA from your tick are preserved indefinitely in our freezer archive, so those samples will always be available for testing. Matching funds from this project must be used quickly, before October 31.
Will further testing affect my health?
In most cases, no. And as with all tick testing, this pathogen testing should not be treated as a diagnosis. While results could have some interest for people who experienced unexplained symptoms following a tick bite, the overall goal of this project is to improve public health knowledge and outcomes on a broad scale. Every tick we test adds to the available surveillance data pertaining to a type of tick or a particular region. Every result, both positive and negative, helps to focus attention on the exposure risks posed by a tick bite.
If you’d like to support our ongoing research but aren’t as interested in the specific results from your tick sample, you can contribute to our research fund using the link below.
