The big killer!

The graphic shows how many people are killed by different species of animal every year. The big red block at the bottom might surprise you: The number of mosquito-caused deaths is staggering. Other than human death during times of war, the mosquito is the clear leader.

The reason?

Mosquitoes carry terrible diseases, including malaria (which kills more than 600,000 people every year); dengue fever virus; Rift Valley fever virus; yellow fever; chikungunya virus; West Nile virus; Lymphatic filariasis; and Japanese encephalitis.

These mosquito-borne infections don’t just kill — they debilitate millions of people. Sometimes these people can’t work and can’t support themselves. Billions of dollars in productivity is lost in places where these debilitating infections run rampant and are fueled by mosquitoes.

The deadliest of all is malaria, a parasitic infection that mosquitoes inject directly into our bloodstream when they bite. The parasites then travel to the victim’s liver, where they multiply and reproduce. Their babies travel the bloodstream, destroying red blood cells.

See also the attached image from the world malaria report for 2015