Thursday, November 20, 2008

How Deadly Are Assassin Bugs?

It depends on where you live.

In Venezuela, which has a population about 8% the size of the United States, the Assassin bug (also known as the kissing bug) caused 716 human deaths from Chagas disease in 2004, way more than the 41 who died there because of mosquito bites (35 from malaria, 4 from dengue fever and 2 from yellow fever). But in the U.S. that same year there were only 2 deaths from Chagas disease. The blood sucking creature that killed more North Americans was the mosquito with 92 deaths in 2004 (79 from West Nile, 8 from malaria and 5 from mosquito-borne viral encephalitis). Ticks also pose a threat killing 12 Americans from tick-caused Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Fever.

What is Chagas Disease? http://www.cdc.gov/chagas/factsheets/detailed.html

What do killer mosquitoes look like? http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/arbor/mosqpics.htm

What is Malaria? http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/

What is Dengue Fever? http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/dengue/

What is Yellow Fever? http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/yellowfever/

What is West Nile Fever? http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/wnv_factsheet.htm

Want more cool bug photos? http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740


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Posted by Lucy Autrey Wilson at 10:45 AM
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Face It. We Can Go Anytime. But In So Many Different Ways!

Cause of Death is a great reference tool for writers, entomologists (some insects kill a lot of people) and anyone interested in health and death-related information. After all, we will all bite the dust, check out, buy the farm and kick the bucket but where we live, our sex, race, age, genetics and habits will ensure we will exit in our own unique way.

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Death By Numbers

A Book In the Hand

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