LymeAlert Launches as First At-Home Tick Test for Lyme Disease Bacteria in US
Developed by Erin Dawicki and co-founders, the LymeAlert system delivers results in 15 minutes, but public health authorities warn that positive or negative tick results do not confirm human infection.
LymeAlert, the first at-home test kit designed to detect Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease, in ticks, is scheduled to launch in the United States in August. Developed by Erin Dawicki and co-founders Michelle Ewy and Brenda Ong, the $50 kit enables users to test a removed tick for the pathogen within 15 minutes. The product aims to facilitate rapid decision-making regarding prophylactic antibiotic treatment within the critical 72-hour window following a tick bite, addressing delays inherent in mail-in laboratory testing.
The kit includes a "Tick Crusher" to pulverise the tick’s exoskeleton and a patent-pending buffer solution. Users insert a test strip into the grinder, where two lines indicate a positive result and one line indicates negative. An accompanying app will allow users to photograph the test strip for automated interpretation, assist those with vision difficulties or neurodivergence, and provide access to telehealth providers and "hot-spot maps" based on field pilots in Massachusetts.
The team has secured several thousand preorders and is conducting retail pilots with three REI locations in the Boston metro area and New Hampshire, plus independent pet retailers. The test remains effective for up to 12 months after purchase. However, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not currently recommend testing ticks removed from people or animals, citing risks of false negatives and false positives, and advises relying on clinical diagnosis.
Dawicki, a pediatric physician associate in Boston, developed the concept during an MIT Sloan MBA entrepreneurship course in 2024. She noted that while early treatment is critical for recovery, many patients delay care due to accessibility issues or the high cost of office visits. The kit is designed to bridge the gap between tick removal and the prescription of prophylactic antibiotics, which the CDC recommends if a tick has been attached for 36 hours in high-risk areas.
Experts such as entomologist Erika Machtinger and microbiologist Brian Stevenson caution that testing a tick does not diagnose human infection. Stevenson noted that only about 1 to 5 percent of tick bites result in Lyme disease, and Machtinger warned that a negative test result may provide a false sense of security. Despite these limitations, the developers argue the tool offers peace of mind and can aid in surveillance efforts through data contributed to the app’s hot-spot maps.
