PORTLAND, Maine (AP) A disease that disfigures lobsters has ticked up slightly in Maine in the last couple of years, but authorities and scientists say it’s not time to sound the alarm.

The disease, often called epizootic shell disease, is a bacterial infection that makes lobsters impossible to sell as food and sometimes kills them. The Maine Department of Marine Resources says researchers found the disease in about 1 percent of lobsters last year. Circa the early- and mid-2000s, they almost never found it in Maine.

The department says overall prevalence of the disease remains low, especially compared to southern New England waters, where it’s in the 20 to 30 percent range. Some scientists have asserted that lobsters are more susceptible to the disease in warmer waters, like those in Long Island Sound.