Glenn Coin is reporting for NewYorkUpstate [dot] com a new laboratory at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse has begun testing ticks for a variety of diseases, and the service is available at no charge. Saravanan Thangamani, director of the SUNY Center for Environmental Health and Medicine, said the lab will accept ticks mailed from anywhere statewide. The goal, he said, is to get a better handle on where the hot spots are for tick-borne diseases. “It will allow us to understand the risk in a particular ZIP code so people there can take the appropriate precautions,” said Thangamani. Tick-testing services can often cost $50 or more per tick. Anyone who sends the Thangamani's lab a tick will receive the results by email. However, if a tick tests positive in the lab for a disease that does not mean the person or animal bitten by the tick has that disease, Thangamani warned. "This [service] can't be used for diagnosis or to make health-care decisions," he said. To send a tick, dead or alive, found on a person or a pet, put it into a sealed plastic bag along with a piece of moist tissue paper or grass. Include a note with the date, location, including ZIP code, email address, and whether the tick was found on a person or an animal. Each tick will be tested for 10 separate diseases. More detailed information, including the address where ticks can be sent, is available at Thangamani [dash] lab [dot] com. Read the full story at NewYorkUpstate [dot] com.