Fighting the World’s Deadliest Animal | Global Health (2024)

FAQs

What is the central idea of the article which animal is the deadliest? ›

The answer might surprise you. A nonfiction article examines the threat mosquitoes pose to human health, mostly through the spread of malaria, while an infographic presents the much-loathed creatures in a more positive light.

By far, mosquitoes are the deadliest animal on earth. Mosquitoes carrying malaria kill a child every minute. Human-on-human deaths are killer. In 2015, homicides made up around 409,000 deaths, war approximately 172,000 deaths.

Spreading diseases like malaria, dengue, West Nile, yellow fever, Zika, chikungunya, and lymphatic filariasis, the mosquito kills more people than any other creature in the world.

Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth independent of their utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the same consideration as similar interests of human beings.

(Delete answer before printing) The writer of the article thinks that animals demonstrate more intelligence than most people give them credit for. He also explores the idea that animals will apply their intelligence to serve their own purposes, not to please a scientist.

This includes cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases. They tend to develop gradually over time and aren't infectious themselves. Heart diseases were the most common cause, responsible for a third of all deaths globally. Cancers were in second, causing almost one-in-five deaths.

(Tie) 7.

The assassin bug transmits a dangerous parasite through its feces. The parasite, which causes a condition known as Chagas disease, immediately unleashes acute symptoms which can include severe swelling of the heart or brain. This deadly phase of Chagas disease causes around 10,000 fatalities annually.

#1: Mosquito

It kills more people than all the other animals on this list combined. Mosquitoes carry diseases that kill more than 1 million people each year. These diseases include Malaria, Dengue Fever, and Yellow Fever. Malaria alone kills more than 3,000 African children each day.

What animal carries the most diseases? ›

Mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas are among the arthropods responsible for transmitting many of the myriad bacteria, viruses, and parasites that cause vectorborne diseases―as are some mammals. In terms of infectious disease transmission, mosquitoes are considered the most dangerous animals on earth.

The strongest animal in the world is the African bush elephant, which is capable of lifting 6,000kg, its own body weight from lying down. Even their trunks can lift over 200kg, thanks to over 40,000 muscles. For context, an adult humans have just over 600 muscles in their entire bodies.

Glass sponges are considered the oldest animals on Earth—and it's by a long shot. Scientists estimate that they can live for more than 10,000 years, possibly 15,000 years maximum. One glass sponge observed by researchers in the Ross Sea, a bay of Antarctica, is thought to be the oldest living animal on the planet.

While larger animals like sharks or hippos may seem a likely culprit, the animal that kills the most humans per year is actually the mosquito.

Rather, the deadliest animal is the tiny mosquito. That's mostly because of malaria. Mosquitoes spread the blood-borne disease, killing about 445,000 people per year. That figure doesn't even include deaths from dengue fever, yellow fever, Zika or West Nile viruses.

Some argue that since animals don't behave in a moral way they don't deserve moral treatment from other beings. Animals, it's argued, usually behave selfishly, and look after their own interests, while human beings will often help other people, even if doing so is to their own disadvantage.

Supporters of animal rights believe that animals have an inherent worth—a value completely separate from their usefulness to humans. We believe that every creature with a will to live has a right to live free from pain and suffering.

Yet animals' rights are violated when they are used in research because they are not given a choice. Animals are subjected to tests that are often painful or cause permanent damage or death, and they are never given the option of not participating in the experiment.