Dutch travel health company Care Plus has created a tick test that you can use at home to determine whether or not the tick that bit you is a carrier of the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease. Instead of waiting days to notice the red ring rash, now within 20 minutes you can call your doctor for treatment.
Until now, you had to wait after a tick bite for the possible appearance of the tell tale red ring before seeking treatment. By the time the red ring appears however, you run the risk that the infection is already chronic. The big advantage of the Care Plus home tick test is that immediately after the tick bite has occurred, you can know with certainty whether or not treatment is necessary.
When bitten by a tick, safely remove the tick within 8 hours. Place the tick inside the sealable tube and add a few drops of the testing liquid. Finely crush the tick with the wooden pestle then suck up some of the resulting mixture in the eye dropper. Add 2-3 drops to the test box and wait no more than 20 minutes for your results.
If the tick does indeed carry the Lyme Disease bacteria, a red line appears next to the "T". If a red line appears next to the "C", you are in the clear. If your home tick test is positive, it can be shown to your doctor so that s/he can prescribe the appropriate antibiotic treatment.
I know I will be keeping a bunch of these Care Plus home tick tests on hand since I find ticks on myself and Lola almost every day. Thankfully actual tick bites have so far been rare (knock on wood).
The Care Plus home tick tests retail for less that €10 and can be bought from various retailers across Europe or Amazon for those of us in North America.