It’s tick season, but gardeners, hikers, and others enjoying the great outdoors shouldn’t let concerns about Lyme disease keep them inside. A few tips to keep ticks away, and some advice from infectious diseases doctors about Lyme disease, should help you enjoy the spring and summer weather, according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), a medical professional association representing the nation’s foremost experts in Lyme and other infectious diseases.

A long-term study of tick dynamics simultaneously assesses the impact of multiple ecological variables on Lyme disease risk and strongly implicates a role for rodent hosts and their food resources.