Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium transmitted to humans by deer ticks  Generally deer ticks pick up the bacterium while in the larval stage from feeding on infected white-footed mice  However, certain other species on which the larvae feed do not harbor the bacterium
Ttherefore, if the population of these other species were increased, the number of ticks acquiring the bacterium and hence the number of people contracting Lyme disease-would likely decline
A deer tick feeds only once while in the larval stage.