Professor Rich and his crew basically held my hand throughout the whole process, the worried father says. So he did some research and found the LMZ at UMass Amherst. But we werent comfortable with that, the dad notes. Their physician told the parents to watch their daughters symptoms to see if she got worse. We found it on her head, fully engorged, the father says, and she was already having flu-like symptoms, so we took her to the doctor. Next, he hopes that instead of throwing the tick in the trash or toilet, people will send it to the LMZ ( Results are usually available within three to five business days, a relatively quick turnaround time that can be very helpful, as one UMass Amherst alumnus found after his five-year-old daughter was bitten by a tick. When a person or a pet is bitten by a tick, the medical zoologist says, the first step is to remove it safely.

It can help to narrow down your diagnosis more quickly and in some cases were aware of, its a game changer. If you know the tick that bit you tested positive for a pathogen that causes a certain disease, you can take that information to your doctor. But still, your exposure level is important information for both you and the doctor. If you have your house tested for radon and its positive, you dont go to your oncologist and tell him or her that you have cancer. Â Rich explains, Were not practicing medicine or diagnosing disease, but we can help provide clues for physicians. Also, by building up the database of tick types sent in, where they came from and whether they were found on a dog, human or horse, for example, the lab keeps expanding its usefulness to epidemiologists tracking the many confusing tick-borne diseases. He and the student-staffed LMZ at UMass Amherst want to increase public awareness of this second peak tick season and offer information to give people more peace of mind about what they have or have not been exposed to. Its really taken off this year well test about 2,000 ticks from 40 states. Rich says, Weve been doing this since 2006. The LMZ uses the same methods for this public service work as for our academic research to test for different disease pathogens. Right now, while families are out enjoying beautiful fall foliage and crisp autumn air, tick bites are on the rise and the risk of contacting a tick-borne disease is high. Ticks prefer cooler temperatures, which is also prime time for human outdoor activities. Most people arent aware that there are two tick activity peaks, one starting in June and the second from about October until the snow flies, says Rich. The LMZs research activities and tick identification service are particularly important at this time of year, because fall is one of two peak tick seasons per year. The tick and pathogen identification service costs $40 per tick. We wanted to have a way to expand our research so that it could have a positive impact on the community. This service helps families and their physicians as well as epidemiologists, says Rich, who makes frequent presentations to medical professionals around the Northeast. As head of the Laboratory of Medical Zoology (LMZ) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Rich and colleagues collect thousands of ticks, dead or alive, extracted from people and pets and sent in from across the country, to help map the distribution of different kinds of the blood-sucking arachnids, and to categorize the many disease-causing pathogens they carry. Medical zoologist Stephen Rich cant wait to get his hands on your ticks. Medical zoologist Stephen Rich, head of the Laboratory of Medical Zoology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, collects ticks, dead or alive, from people and pets across the country, to help map the distribution of different kinds of the blood-sucking arachnids, and to categorize the many disease-causing pathogens they carry.

Nieto lab tick testing