13 Bizarre Killer Diseases Transmitted by Animals to Humans
Some animals are really deadly, transmitting lethal diseases to humans and killing millions.
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Leishmaniasis
This disease is similar to malaria in that the disease organisms are protozoa transmitted to humans by an insect bite, but the insect in this case is the sandfly. The most lethal kind with a mortality rate of 95% is “kalazar,” a term derived from Hindi language meaning “black disease.”
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Trypanosomiasis
This is a group of diseases caused by similar kinds of protozoa. The diseases include two kinds of African sleeping disease and chagas disease affecting about 10 million people. Sleeping sickness is transmitted by tsetse fly. Chagas disease is transmitted by the insect known as assassin bug or kissing bug. It also affects other animals such as donkey, cattle, horses and dogs.
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Bubonic Plague
Three great epidemics of bubonic plague have been recorded, including “Black Death” in the 14th century killing 50 million people. This disease is carried by rodents, including squirrel, rats, rabbits.
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Malaria
One of the most common diseases in the world, the disease is carried by anopheles mosquitoes. It is estimated that at least one million children die each year because of malaria.
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Anthrax
This is an acute infectious disease caused by a bacteria and, depending on the form, can be highly lethal. Anthrax is a serious disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, which affects cattle, sheep, and goat usually causing death. People working with sick animals or their products can suffer sores, swelling, fever, pneumonia, blood poisoning and death.
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Onchocerciasis
This is a disease transmitted by a species of blackfly that causes blindness. This is not a deadly or killer disease but had caused millions of cases of blindness.
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Avian Flu or Bird’s Flu
A contagious disease caused by viruses that normally infect birds and transmitted to humans. Since 1997, thousands of confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza viruses have been reported.
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Leptospirosis
An infectious disease caused by a particular type of bacteria called a spirochete transmitted by rats as well as by skunks, opossums, raccoons, foxes, and other vermin. Leptospirosis occurs worldwide but is most commonly acquired in the tropics.
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Rabies
An acute, infectious, often fatal viral disease of most warm-blooded animals, especially wolves, cats, and dogs, that attacks the central nervous system and is transmitted by the bite of infected animals. Thousands have died due to this disease.
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Loiasis
This is a kind of disease transmitted from monkey to human and vice versa by a biting fly.
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Yellow Fever
Sometimes produces similar symptoms to those of malaria. It is a virus disease carried by aedes mosquito. Yellow fever also can be harbored by other animals.
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Tularemia
This disease is also called rabbit fever. It is transmitted from animals to humans who come in contact with the animal tissues and through the bites of ticks or fleas.
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Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
This is the name of a tick borne. This disease is also called tick fever. The name is misleading because humans are most likely to get infected in regions far from the Rocky Mountains. It is caused by a rickettsial organism transmitted by a tick bite. Wild rodents are a reservoir of the infected ticks that carry the disease.
For more bizarre diseases and conditions and other related articles – check the ff:
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Common and Rare Birth Defects or Congenital Disorders and their Causes
Bizarre Mental Disorders and Conditions
The Most Bizarre Sexual Disorders
Bizarre Deadly Diseases Transmitted by Animals to Humans 2
Deformities Caused by Bizarre Diseases or Physical Anomalies
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Liked it
Josey | May 14, 2008 | Reply
I am adding this to my stumble list. Very interesting!
Alexa Gates | May 14, 2008 | Reply
wow! this is interesting! I dont’ want to get any of those!
tracy sardelli | May 14, 2008 | Reply
i have already had no 14 about 4 years ago, i have never been the same since, nasty stuff, despite a tick & flea collar it was my cat that carried the red tick that bit me. great article. thank you for sharing.
salvatore | May 14, 2008 | Reply
great article buddy, thanks so much for sharing.
Alissa | May 14, 2008 | Reply
The bubonic plague was spread by fleas, not rodents.
IcyCucky | May 14, 2008 | Reply
This is interesting!
nobert soloria bermosa | May 14, 2008 | Reply
Hi Alissa,
thanks, i just want to ask you where do those fleas thrive?
aren’t they parasites of rodents? thank you.
Alissa | May 14, 2008 | Reply
Yes, they live off of rodents, cats, and dogs. BUT, the bubonic is TRANSMITTED by the bite of fleas, not the bite of the rodents and mammals. The thought used to be that the actual host of the fleas, i.e. cats, dogs, and rats were the culprit of the transmission of the disease, but in actuality, fleas were the culprit.
nobert soloria bermosa | May 14, 2008 | Reply
thanks again Alissa,I agree with you,but i didn’t say – bite of rodents-”This disease is carried by rodents, including squirrel, rats, rabbits.”-thanks again
Alissa | May 14, 2008 | Reply
Riiight… But, the disease is transmitted by fleas. We don’t care what hosts the thing that spreads the disease. Disposing all of the cats and rats in the 14th century didn’t rid them of the plague, so obviously the parasite that transmits the disease will thrive regardless. The sentence “the disease is carried by rats” insinuates that the rats have the disease and the rat will give you the disease. A correct sentence might read, the disease is carried by fleas, who transmit the disease through their saliva into a human’s bloodstream. Rats and other rodents host the infected fleas.
Rhodora Bande | May 14, 2008 | Reply
Very informative.
Lucy Lockett | May 14, 2008 | Reply
Interesting information! I would not want any of these diseases!
Anne Lyken-Garner | May 15, 2008 | Reply
I agree with Lucy, a lot of these diseases are very hard to treat, so I hope I never get infected by any of them.
Joe50342 | May 16, 2008 | Reply
Nice article, keep up the good work!
Darlene McFarlane | May 18, 2008 | Reply
Very scary! I have only heard of a small handful of these diseases. They all sound too terrible to be real.
Thank you, nobert…another interesting article!
Crystal | Jun 4, 2008 | Reply
#9 looks like Tiger Woods!
just reading | Jun 4, 2008 | Reply
Thinking of spirochete…
What about Lyme disease?
Spread by ticks which have fed on deer etc
valli | Jun 5, 2008 | Reply
Very informative article.
Athlyn Green | Jun 5, 2008 | Reply
Excellent article. Well written with crystal clear pictures. Well done.
Marites | Jun 7, 2008 | Reply
woah! those are nasty and gee! very scary.. You got a very interesting article.
Dani | Jun 7, 2008 | Reply
I really think psiticosis or “parrot fever” should be on this list. I had it when I was a kid and could have died… The local health department took it pretty seriously and I had to be quarantined for an entire week.
nobert soloria bermosa | Jun 7, 2008 | Reply
thanks to all your comments guys,i truly appreciate it. thanks Dani, i’ll include that on its sequel,thank you.
Oscar Trejo Jr | Jun 7, 2008 | Reply
Very informative article that everyone should take seriously. Hope no one on here gets any of those.
jo oliver | Jun 7, 2008 | Reply
good read
The forgiver | Jun 8, 2008 | Reply
EEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!….. Nice one ….Keep it up
Nelson Doyle | Jun 9, 2008 | Reply
Now this is a most useful article that I will be passing along to me friends. I have had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever as a kid and it is nothing to play with. I had gotten very sick, so now I do not play around when looking for ticks after getting back from a fishing or hunting trip.
God Bless,
Nelson Doyle
nobert soloria bermosa | Jun 9, 2008 | Reply
Thank you so much to all of you guys- for your comments and support.
Thank you very much Nelson for reading my article and for posting a comment. It’s very much appreciated.
God Bless!
Andromeda | Jun 9, 2008 | Reply
You did a great job researching this article. The information you provided is correct and the pictures are perfect representations. Way to go!
Andromeda | Jun 9, 2008 | Reply
Norbert, I saw you had mentioned a sequel. I think reader’s would find incubation periods, common symptoms, pandemic/epidemic probabilities and mortality rates interesting too. Thanks again for a great read.
Andromeda
nobert soloria bermosa | Jun 9, 2008 | Reply
Thanks a lot to you Andromeda,
Thorne | Jun 11, 2008 | Reply
The simian herpes virus should have been included.
nani | Jun 14, 2008 | Reply
Bubonic plague is carried by rodent fleas, not the rodents themselves.
crown_princeszx16 | Aug 5, 2008 | Reply
tNx fOr tHe PiC I ReAlLy NeEd tHiS!
crown_princeszx16 | Aug 5, 2008 | Reply
eEeEeEeWwWwWwWwWwW…..,..,..,.,.,.,.It sO KaDeRdEr!
Tess Jade | Oct 8, 2008 | Reply
This stuff is cool…keep it up…and add more.
Dieter Hentz | Nov 8, 2008 | Reply
frighting
b-ballchik | Apr 30, 2009 | Reply
I aree wit alissa because the fleas are the ones that are ivin the desies out
That guy | May 3, 2009 | Reply
I wonder when swine flu will end up here.
jack | May 12, 2009 | Reply
swine flu will never end up here because the effects are no where near as devastating as the rest of the diseases.
jonh | Aug 16, 2009 | Reply
i have herpes
john | Aug 16, 2009 | Reply
hey i love men
kayla | Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
OMG u said buddy!
Love | Aug 23, 2009 | Reply
This is very informational. I wish they could tone the picture down. Whoever did this blog is smart.
MMV Abad | Sep 27, 2009 | Reply
Scary skin disease
Juancav | Sep 27, 2009 | Reply
Terrifying diseases.
tunepal | Oct 9, 2009 | Reply
wow. really killer disease!