Ticks may carry diseases that cause illness in humans and animals in Michigan. Therefore, if you find a tick feeding on a person or domestic animal, you may want it screened for the presence of a disease-causing organism. Not all tick species carry disease agents. The testing performed on the tick will depend on the species of tick.

The “Tick Identification and Testing Form” is used for tracking ticks that are removed from a host (person/animal/other) and submitted to the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) for identification and possible testing. A tick removed from a human must be alive to be tested.

Effective April 1, 2008, laboratory tick screening services for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) group (Rickettsia organism) will no longer be offered by the MDA, Laboratory Division.

The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) Laboratory will continue to provide laboratory tick screening services for the Lyme disease organism, Borrelia burgdorferi, if the tick species is an Ixodes scapularis (deer tick) and was removed from a human host at no cost to the submitter. Ticks removed from a non-human host will be identified and disease screening performed by the Michigan State University, Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health (MSU-DCPAH). MSU-DCPAH will charge the submitter a $10.00 fee for identification of the tick and $40.00 for disease screening of the tick.

The MDA, Pesticide and Plant Pest Management Division, Insect and Rodent Management Program as well as the MDCH Laboratory will continue to receive ticks for identification purposes only regardless of the host. If the submitter desires MSU-DCPAH to provide disease screening of their tick, please check the appropriate box on the “Tick Identification and Testing Form” and MDA or MDCH will forward the tick to MSU-DCPAH. To obtain a copy of the “Tick Identification and Testing Form”, please click here.

Any questions should be directed to the Insect and Rodent Management Program at (517) 241-1170.