Bitten by a tick? Free testing available

If you were bitten by a tick, the Tick-Borne Disease Network will test 100 Lincoln ticks  free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis and let you know if the tick carried a disease.

Ticks will be tested for three common pathogens: Borrelia burgdorferi (which causes Lyme disease), Anaplasma phagocytophilium, and Babesia microti, and the results will be provided to residents to share with their medical providers. The test results are anonymous and will help local and state agencies build a stronger surveillance database for informing public health disease prevention programs and tracking tick-borne disease.

If you’re bitten by a tick, carefully remove it using tweezers and place it in a sealable plastic bag (the lab can analyze a tick submitted in almost any condition). Go to TickReport.com, complete an online submittal form, write the order number provided on the plastic bag, and send it in an envelope with the tick to the address indicated on the website. After 100 ticks from Lincoln have been submitted for testing, residents may obtain testing for a significantly reduced fee. Call the Lincoln Board of Health at 78-259-2613 for more information.

Tick experts will also discuss tick control and tick-borne disease prevention on April 30 at 7 p.m. in Brooks auditorium (see the Lincoln Squirrel, April 15).

The testing program is funded by a $111,300 grant from the Patrick administration’s Community Innovation Challenge (CIC) grant program. The CIC’s goal is to help towns and regions across Massachusetts  form new partnerships and develop strategies to further common goals—in this case, identifying the prevalence of tick bites and the presence of pathogens that cause tick-borne disease. The grant funds testing and analysis by the Laboratory of Medical Zoology at UMass-Amherst. The partner communities are Acton, Barnstable, Bedford, Bourne, Brewster, Buckland, Carlisle, Charlemont, Chatham, Concord, Conway, Deerfield, Dennis, Eastham, Falmouth, Gill, Harwich, Hawley, Heath, Leyden, Lincoln, Mashpee, Monroe, Nantucket, Orleans, Provincetown, Sandwich, Shelburne, Truro, Wellfleet, Winchester, and Yarmouth.