Disease-Carrying Animals
Updated June 26, 2019 |
Infoplease Staff
Animals can carry diseases that are harmful to people. Here is a list of animals and the diseases they may carry.
 Photographed by Ernie Frank, the TAMU Department of Agricultural Communications Tick |  IMSI Master Clips Mosquito |
| Disease | Symptoms | Carrier |
|---|---|---|
| Bubonic plague | Painful swelling, high fever, body aches | Rat, flea |
| Elephantiasis | Rough, thickened skin, body swelling | Worms |
| Lyme disease | Rash, fatigue, muscle and joint pain | Deer tick |
| Malaria | Chills, weakness, fever, excessive perspiration | Mosquito |
| Plague typhus | Fever, skin rashes | Flea, lice, chipmunk, prairie dog, squirrel |
| Rabies | Headaches, muscle spasms, convulsions | Woodchuck, bat, raccoons |
| Rocky Mountain spotted fever | Chills, fever, rash, leg pain | Wood tick |
| Sleeping sickness | Attacks nervous system; results in prolonged sleep | Tsetse fly |
| Trichinosis | Vomiting, fever, pain, face swelling | Worms in pigs |
| Rift Valley fever | fever, muscle pain, joint pain, headache, blurred or loss of vision, memory loss, hallucinations, vertigo, lethargy, coma | contact with any infected animal's blood or organs, hematophagous (blood-feeding) flies, the Aedes mosquito |
| Animal Hall of Fame | Nature | Endangered and Threatened Species |
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