Old Man Jingles
Rat out of a cage
The Asian giant hornet is thought to kill 50 people a year worldwide, mostly due to allergic reactions or multiple stings.
Mosquito-borne illnesses kill more than 700,000 a year
The insect you should be mindful of is probably buzzing nearby, and it's got a taste for blood -- yours.
"If there are any animals most deserving of fear, it's the mosquitoes," said Lawrence Reeves, assistant research scientist at the University of Florida's Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory.
Mosquitoes are one of the most dangerous animals in the world to humans because of the diseases they transmit, said Reeves, an entomologist whose research focuses on mosquitoes and the pathogens they transmit.
More than 700,000 people die from mosquito-borne illnesses every year, according to the World Health Organization.
While those diseases are fairly rare in the US, the risk isn't zero.
"In the US, I would expect that becoming infected with a mosquito-transmitted virus is about as common as winning the lottery," Reeves said. "That said, there are always lottery winners."
In the US, common mosquito-transmitted diseases include West Nile virus and dog heartworm.
But 2019 saw a significant outbreak of eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE. That mosquito-borne illness infected at least 38 people in the northeast and Midwest and killed 15 of them, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Mosquito-borne illnesses kill more than 700,000 a year
The insect you should be mindful of is probably buzzing nearby, and it's got a taste for blood -- yours.
"If there are any animals most deserving of fear, it's the mosquitoes," said Lawrence Reeves, assistant research scientist at the University of Florida's Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory.
Mosquitoes are one of the most dangerous animals in the world to humans because of the diseases they transmit, said Reeves, an entomologist whose research focuses on mosquitoes and the pathogens they transmit.
More than 700,000 people die from mosquito-borne illnesses every year, according to the World Health Organization.
While those diseases are fairly rare in the US, the risk isn't zero.
"In the US, I would expect that becoming infected with a mosquito-transmitted virus is about as common as winning the lottery," Reeves said. "That said, there are always lottery winners."
In the US, common mosquito-transmitted diseases include West Nile virus and dog heartworm.
But 2019 saw a significant outbreak of eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE. That mosquito-borne illness infected at least 38 people in the northeast and Midwest and killed 15 of them, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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