 This research suggests that ticks can transmit chronic wasting disease, CWD, a fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by infectious prions, to cervids. The study found that black-legged ticks, exid scapularis, ingested an excreted prion proteins when fed on blood spiked with CWD-infected whitetail deer. Additionally, the study showed that ticks could potentially spread CWD to other cervids through allogrooming, common behaviour among deer.