Who may submit a tick?

Ticks will be accepted only from residents of Connecticut. You should submit ticks to your municipal health departments. The health departments will then submit ticks to us with a request for identification and/or testing for the organisms that cause Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, hard tick relapsing fever and Powassan virus disease. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, CAES has allowed Connecticut residents to submit ticks for identification or testing, either by mail or via in-person drop-off.

How to locate your local health department or district:

Contact information for your local health departments can be found online at:
Find your LHD

How much do you charge to test a tick?

Tick testing is offered by The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station as a public service and there is no cost for tick identification or testing.  However, towns or local health departments may charge a small fee for handling and mailing.

What information should be submitted with the tick?

You should completely fill out the CAES Tick Submission Form and package it along with your tick. Please read the entire form carefully and provide the proper information. Please leave a note if you are submitting more than one tick with a single submission form.

You can fill out and print your Tick Submission Form here:
Tick Submission Form

How should ticks be prepared for sending?

Preparing the tick:

• Do not put the tick on tape.
• Place the tick in a container that cannot be crushed. If you don’t have one, a sealed plastic bag is okay.
• Do not use glass or other breakable containers.
• Do not package the tick with anything else, such as paper towels, cotton, plant pieces, bandages, or other materials.
• Do not put the tick in any liquid, including water or alcohol. All ticks should be sent in dry.

Preparing the envelope:

• Tightly seal the crush-proof container or plastic bag that holds the tick and package it in a padded envelope.
• If a padded envelope is not available, a small sheet of bubble wrap can be added to a regular envelope to help protect the tick from being damaged.
• Please request the mail carrier to handle the envelope containing the tick by hand and not through a machine. You can write “Please hand sort” on the envelope to help achieve this.

Where should tick samples be sent?

If you are unable to send the tick through your local health department, please submit samples directly to:

The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
Tick Testing Laboratory
Jenkins-Waggoner Building
123 Huntington Street
New Haven CT, 06511

You may also drop off samples in-person at the Tick Testing Laboratory located at the above address.

Do all ticks submitted get tested for Lyme disease and four other diseases associated with blacklegged (also known as deer) ticks?

We accept all ticks for identification but only test the blacklegged ticks that can spread the causative agents for Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis hard tick relapsing fever, and Powassan virus disease in a human host. The blacklegged tick, also called the deer tick (Ixodes scapularis), is the main tick that spreads the aforementioned diseases and is the only species we test in our lab. We do not test the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum), Gulf Coast tick (Amblyomma americanum, and longhorned tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis) because they do not carry the diseases listed above.

Larval ticks of all species are not tested as they have not had the opportunity to become infected with any diseases. Ticks that are unfed are not tested. Ticks need to feed for nearly 24-36 hours to transmit Lyme disease to humans, though this may vary for anaplasmosis and babesiosis. Ticks without blood in their midguts have not been attached long enough to pose a risk of infection. Male ticks are not tested as they seldom blood-feed and are not known to transmit diseases.

Due to limited resources, we only test ticks that have fed on humans. If you submit a tick found on your pet, the species and how much blood they have taken will be identified, but they will not be tested.

How are results communicated and how long does it take to receive a report?

Results are communicated via e-mail only. Please wait for communication from the Tick Testing Laboratory for results. Phone inquiries cause delays in the analyses of ticks. If you submitted your tick through your health department they may communicate the results to you as well.

Reporting time depends largely on the number of ticks received throughout the year. During high points in tick activity, processing time may be delayed. Ticks are tested on a first-come first-serve basis.