How is anaplasmosis diagnosed?
Anaplasmosis is a difficult disease to diagnose because the symptoms are often non-specific. Diagnostic tests, especially those based on the detection of antibodies, may appear negative for the first 7-10 days of illness.
For this reason, healthcare providers must use their judgment to treat patients and may find important information in the patient’s history and physical examination that may aid in diagnosis. Information such as recent tick bites, exposure to areas where ticks are likely to be found, or history of recent travel to areas where anaplasmosis is commonly found can be helpful. The healthcare provider may also look at routine blood tests, such as a complete blood cell count or a chemistry panel. Clues such as a low platelet count (thrombocytopenia), low white blood cell count (leukopenia), or elevated liver enzyme levels are helpful predictors of anaplasmosis, but may not be present in all patients. After a suspect diagnosis is made on clinical suspicion and treatment has begun, additional laboratory testing may be used to confirm the diagnosis.
Treatment is most effective if started early in the course of the disease.
Additional information regarding the diagnosis of anaplasmosis can be found on the CDC website:
A Practical Guide for Physicians and Other Health-Care and Public Health Professionals
What should I do if I have a tick that I want to identify or test?
Knowing what kind of tick bit you may be important in knowing what your risk of disease is. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) provides tick identification at no charge to Michigan citizens. Ticks that are submitted from people that are identified as blacklegged ticks (also known as deer tick) and are alive will be forwarded to the MDHHS Bureau of Laboratories for Lyme disease screening only at no cost. Ticks that are dead when they are received or are from animals (dog, cat, horse, etc.) will not be tested however, they will be identified to species and lifestage.
See more information regarding the tick identification and testing program, in addition to instructions on how to ship the tick, on Tick Identification and Testing in Michigan.
Anaplasmosis information for clinicians
Tickborne Diseases In Michigan is a quick reference table for health care providers that includes vector species, incubation period, signs and symptoms, general laboratory findings, laboratory diagnosis, and treatment for the following tickborne diseases: Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Anyone living or recreating where the blacklegged tick may be present could become infected. Since the disease became reportable in the U.S. (1999), the number of anaplasmosis cases reported has increased steadily. Anaplasmosis is most frequently reported from the upper Midwestern and Northeastern U.S. The geographic distribution of anaplasmosis corresponds with that of Lyme disease as both diseases are transmitted by the same kind of tick.