Fig. 8.

The infection prevalences of nymphs, adults, mice, and deer during a period of sustained oscillation of an epidemic. The infection prevalence of each compartment starts increasing in June, due to the beginning of the nymphal tick feeding period. Since the nymphal questing period is not sustained past July, the infection prevalence of each compartment starts to decrease between August and September. The infection prevalences increase again, once the adult tick feeding period begins in October. Since the adult feeding period is not sustained past November, the prevalences will start to decrease in December. This explains the presence of the two peaks observed in each compartment, where one starts in June, and the other one starts in October.