Where foxes thrive, Lyme disease doesn't

Taal Levi, a researcher at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, talks about Lyme disease and how ecology — specifically, the interplay between wildlife species — affects the spread of infectious disease. Mice are especially good carriers of Lyme disease because their immune systems don't fight off the pathogen and they don't groom ticks off their bodies. (unlike opossums that remove as much as 96 percent). Foxes are highly effective at killing mice - statistical data shows that as fox populations go down, the incidence of Lyme goes up.

Video: Poughkeepsie Journal, John Ferro.