Humans get Lyme disease from infected ticks. Ticks get infected by feeding on animals with Lyme disease, but the ease of transmission from host animal to tick varies. With most species of host animal, transmission of Lyme disease to ticks is extremely rare, but white-footed mice are an exception, readily passing Lyme disease to ticks. And white-footed mouse populations greatly expand, becoming the main food source for ticks, in areas where biodiversity is in decline.
The information in the passage most strongly supports which of the following?
(A) In areas where many humans are infected with Lyme disease, the proportion of ticks infected with Lyme disease is especially high.
(B) Very few animals that live in areas where there are no white-footed mice are infected with Lyme disease.
(C) Humans are less at risk of contracting Lyme disease in areas where biodiversity is high.
(D) Ticks feed on white-looted mice only when other host species are not available to them.
(E) The greater the biodiversity of an area, the more likely any given host animal in that area is to pass Lyme disease to ticks.