This has been an issue in PA for about the last five years. I don't know what changed- but the tiny little ticks are everywhere. They're about the size of a period in a newspaper.
I had over 40 of them on me coming out of a green briar thicket a few years ago. They make tick spray that I spray all over and it does a pretty good job of keeping them off.
I even had them on me this week hunting in the snow.
-Jake