Concerns have been raised recently about contracting Lyme disease this summer.

It's spread by tick bites, but Southern Health-Sante Sud Medical Officer of health Dr. Michael Routledge says being bitten doesn't necessarily mean you'll get the disease.

"The first thing is if you do find a tick that's attached, the sooner you can remove it, the better," he says. "When we're talking about Lyme disease, and some of the other infections as well, the tick needs to be attached for 24 hours to transmit. So, if you've been out in the bush, and find a tick afterwards, and remove it, if it's in the 24 hours, you won't contract Lyme disease."

Routledge has this advice on how to protect yourself.

"It's always a good idea when people are out, that they're taking precautions," he says. "Like wearing longer pants, and shirts, and socks -- tucking pants in the socks, and shirts in the pants. Anything you can do to prevent ticks from getting attached. And then after you're out in those wooded areas, it's really important when you come back home, that you're doing a tick check."

Routledge says while Lyme Disease is a concern, there are others, including mosquitoes.

"Most of the mosquitoes we're going to have are going to be nuisance mosquitoes, they're not ones that have infection," he says. "We do have West Nile virus in Manitoba -- we haven't seen it yet, so far this year, but we're getting into that time of year where it is West Nile season. So, particularly at the end of the day, taking precautions around mosquito bites."