New frontiers for coyotes may bring more Lyme disease

Expanding predator populations could explain an uptick in infections

Coyotes expanding into new territories across North America may be driving a surge in Lyme disease.

DOESN’T LIKE COYOTES The red fox (shown) fades away when coyotes arrive, a switch of top predators that lets small rodents, good hosts for Lyme disease pathogens, flourish. Jennifer Allen

It’s often deer that municipalities blame for raising the risk of human infection with the tick-transmitted Lyme bacteria.