You GO UMass!
Believe it or not, the IDSA Guidelines recommend that ticks NOT be tested, except in research studies. Since the serology diagnostics recommended by the IDSA and the CDC are so grossly inaccurate, what greater peace of mind can potentially infected people give themselves if the tick, itself, carries no infectious microbe? This is awesome that UMass is giving the IDSA the brushoff. Hopefully, more states will follow.
wwlp.com/2016/06/16/umass-lab-to-offer-reduced-cost-testing-of-ticks-for-disease/Excerpt:
"AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) – UMass Amherst is home to a laboratory that tests ticks from around the country, but a local program called Tick Report partners with cities and towns to subsidize the costs of tick testing.
The town pays $1,500 and up to 100 residents can pay just $15 to get a tick tested. Normally it’s a $50 fee.
The laboratory catalogs each tick under a microscope, grinds it up into a powder, and then tests the DNA for disease. They guarantee results in 5 days, but it can be done as quickly as 1 day."
-p