WATCH OUT: THESE ARE THE DEADLIEST ANIMALS IN THE WORLD

[IceWizard]

#7. Freshwater snail

Number of people killed in 2015: 4,400
Percent of total worldwide deaths from animals: 0.29%

Unlike the snails you might find in your garden, certain freshwater snails carry the second-most devastating
parasitic disease on the planet: schistosomiasis. These snails shed the parasites into the water,
contaminating it and infecting hosts who come in contact with it. Once inside the host, the parasites lay
eggs with sharp barbs that embed into internal tissue. Schistosomiasis is fatal in about 10% of cases.










#6. Kissing bug

Number of people killed in 2015: 8,000
Percent of total worldwide deaths from animals: 0.52%

Kissing bugs might sound sweet, but they’re carriers of the deadly Chagas disease, the American form
of trypanosomiasis, or "African sleeping sickness.” The bugs bite hosts on the thin skin near their eyes
or mouth ("kissing” them) and leave behind droppings that infect through the wound. They’re mostly
found in Latin America, but there have been reported sightings throughout the southern U.S. as well.









#5. Dog

Number of people killed in 2015: 17,400
Percent of total worldwide deaths from animals: 1.13%

As much we love them, dogs are still descended from wolves and, like wolves, they bite. While dying
from a dog bite on its own is incredibly rare, you should make sure your four-legged friend has had
its shots regardless. That's because dogs are the lead source of rabies deaths in humans, accounting
for 99% of cases. Africa and Asia experience the most dog bite-related deaths, due to large stray dog
populations.









#4. Sandfly

Number of people killed in 2015: 24,200
Percent of total worldwide deaths from animals: 1.57%

Sandflies live in Africa, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia—especially India.
Their diet consists largely of plants, but females also feed on blood while producing eggs and transmit
the Leishmania parasite in the process. Most infected people never get sick, but those who get
Leishmaniasis can develop one of the three forms of the disease. The most deadly is visceral Leishmaniasis,
which is fatal in 95% of untreated cases.










#3. Snake

Number of people killed in 2015: 60,000
Percent of total worldwide deaths from animals: 3.9%

Snakes are one of the most commonly feared animals, and rightfully so. The World Health Organization
estimates that snakes bite 5.4 million people every year, with 2.7 million of those bites are from
poisonous snakes. Snake venom can cause blindness, necrosis, and death. There are usually only
five or six snakebite-related fatalities per year in the U.S., while India is believed to have the most
with about half of the world’s snake bites each year.










#2. Human

Number of people killed in 2015: 580,000
Percent of total worldwide deaths from animals: 37.73%

As serious as animal attacks and parasitic diseases can be, you’re much more likely to be killed by
another human. The Gates Notes study found that homicide accounted for around 409,000 deaths,
with war casualties comprising the other 172,000. 2016 marked the first year in more than a decade
that the global homicide rate rose, while recent studies have found that wars may have led to three
times more deaths in the last 50 years than estimated.










#1. Mosquito

Number of people killed in 2015: 830,000
Percent of total worldwide deaths from animals: 54%

Mosquitoes are capable of transmitting many deadly diseases, including malaria, West Nile virus,
Zika, dengue fever, yellow fever, and chikungunya. Distributing bed nets and eliminating the insects’
breeding ground of standing water have been among the proposed solutions to this rampant
problem. Nevertheless, it has proven complicated to implement an effective plan.
The Gates Foundation has recently pushed for a different solution: using gene-editing technology
to eliminate malaria-transmitting mosquitoes altogether.