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Upstate halts tick testing program due to lack of funding

Cars drive under the sky bridge that connects the parking garage to the Upstate Medical University Hospital in downtown Syracuse.
Upstate Medical University
/
Upstate
Cars drive under the sky bridge that connects the parking garage to the Upstate Medical University Hospital in downtown Syracuse.

Upstate Medical University is putting a halt to its free tick testing program due to lack of funding.

The program invited the public to mail ticks to the hospital’s lab for testing. This helped track the presence of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases across New York.

However, an Upstate spokesperson said in a statement Thursday temporary funding has expired, and the program is paused until a sustainable solution is found.

Upstate said the program had been supported by grants for capital costs, as well as temporary institutional funds and the Upstate Foundation. These temporary funds allowed the program to launch in July 2019, and run for nearly four years.

The hospital said it costs $50 to process and test one tick, which includes covering staff time and reagents. The program is seeking annual funding of $550,000 to test 11,000 ticks a year.

This story was first reported by Syracuse.com.