Department of Defense: Small Bugs Pack a Pathogenic Punch

What is the deadliest animal in the world? Mosquitos. Mosquitos account for around 750,000 deaths per year worldwide.

Department of Defense statement: “Walter Reed National Military Medical Center partners with its Department of Defense stakeholders and the National Institutes of Health to promote Bug Awareness Week, an annual public health campaign held June 10 – 17 to heighten awareness of the potential risks associated with insect-related transmissible diseases.

According to the Defense Health Agency, everyone is vulnerable to diseases spread by infected insects such as mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas, also called vectors.