Cases of Lyme disease spread by black-legged ticks have been steadily increasing in northeast, mid-west and mid-Atlantic USA and southern Canada. Ticks are active whenever the temperature is consistently above freezing, extended the season into winter.
If you find a tick, you can upload an image to https://www.etick.ca/en and get a quick identification. At least in Ontario (Canada), pharmacists can prescribe the antibiotic doxycycline as a prophylactic if four criteria are met. Public Health Ontario recommends monitoring for any signs of Lyme disease for 30 days even after taking doxycycline.
Especially if you have animals, it is worth getting a tick removal kit. There are multiple types - I have had good success with tick keys but there does not appear to be a consensus that these are better than tweezers. The general advice is not to twist or crush the tick to avoid parts of the tick breaking off and lodging in the skin.
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