Tick Talk, the crowdsourcing tick collection project conducted last year at Michigan Tech, will run for a second year in 2024. Tick collection will start early this year due to warm weather.
MTU’s Genomic Sequencing Lab wants ticks from you, your family and your pets. The goal of this project is to identify the prevalence of tick-borne illnesses in the Copper Country. Please bring any ticks you find to one of two collection boxes on the Michigan Tech campus:
- U. J. Noblet Forestry Building — Main Entrance
- Great Lakes Research Center — First Floor
Current Results
Results from the community tick submission so far are available on the Tick Talk Dashboard. If you have any questions, please contact lab lead Aimee Marceau at ahmarcea@mtu.edu.
How to Remove and Preserve Ticks
- Use clean, fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible.
- Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don’t twist or jerk the tick; this can cause its mouth parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth parts with tweezers. If you cannot remove the mouth easily with tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.
- After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap and water.
- Never crush a tick with your fingers. Dispose of a live tick by:
- Placing it in a sealed plastic storage bag. Multiple ticks from the same location can be placed in the same bag.
- Once the tick is sealed inside the plastic storage bag, bring it to a drop-off point within eight hours or place the bag with the tick in a freezer until dropping it off at Michigan Tech.
- Follow the directions at the drop-off site to ensure the tick is properly preserved.