1. Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes – the pesky bugs that suck blood and transmit viruses from person to person – are responsible for the most animal-related deaths.
2. Snakes
Snake bites kill more than 100,000 people a year as of 2015. Worse still, there’s a troubling shortage of an essential antivenom.
3. Dogs
Dogs – specifically dogs infected by the rabies virus – are one of the deadliest animals out there, though the virus can be prevented using vaccines.
4. Freshwater snails
The freshwater snail carries parasitic worms that infect people with a disease called schistosomiasis that can cause intense abdominal pain and blood in the stool or urine, depending on the area that’s affected.
5. Assassin bugs
The assassin bug, also called the kissing bug, is responsible for carrying Chagas disease, which kills about 12,000 people a year on average.
