Live data from Hacker News

Mosquitoes kill more than 700k people every year (2017)

isglobal.org

221–230 of 411 posts

Re: Mosquitoes kill more than 700k people every year (2017)

#221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poor sharks, they get one of the worst raps for how little damage they do to humans. I'm surprised to see dogs so high up on that list.

I'm thinking, that data is more of a heat-map of interactions. Any human interaction with a shark in its environment, shark wins. So as a per-capita, they might be near 100%?

I know it's not the point you were trying to make but

> Any human interaction with a shark in its environment, shark wins.

this is straight-up wrong. Humans and sharks interact all. the. time. They're not killing machines.

I imagine you probably know that, so I'm not trying to patronize you (honestly). But this is really important.

SHARKS KILLED 4 HUMANS IN 2018. HUMANS KILLED 100 MILLION SHARKS IN 2018.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/01/28/shark-a...

Re: Mosquitoes kill more than 700k people every year (2017)

#222
post #18

To put this in a perspective, 1 Mosquito 1,000,000 2 Human 475,000 3 Snake 50,000 4 Dog 25,000 5 Tsetse Fly 10,000 6 Assassin Bug 10,000 7 Freshwater Snail 10,000 8 Ascaris Roundworm 2,500 9 Tapeworm 2,000 10 Crocodile 1,000 11 Hippopotamus 500 12 Elephant 100 13 Lion 100 14 Wolf 10 15 Shark 10 https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-animals-that-kill-mo...

Poor sharks, they get one of the worst raps for how little damage they do to humans. I'm surprised to see dogs so high up on that list.

Yeah, I'd rather have a neighbor with a shark than a neighbor with a dog.

Re: Mosquitoes kill more than 700k people every year (2017)

#223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poor sharks, they get one of the worst raps for how little damage they do to humans. I'm surprised to see dogs so high up on that list.

That's just like flight safety records.. the issue with sharks is that when something happens you're 99% about to lose a limb or life. You run into mosquitoes 30k times a year, one of them may kill you, and most of the time you could have saved yourself on your own.

Uhh, maybe? Shark attacks are quite rare, but I think you might be underestimating how many bites just result in stitches. Talking about "shark attacks" here. Not "Great White shark attacks". Likewise you're certainly underestimating how many airplane "accidents" don't result in any injury (again, not talking about "commercial airline accidents").

Re: Mosquitoes kill more than 700k people every year (2017)

#224

When I lived in Africa -especially Nigeria- there were these swarms of mosquitoes that could drain half a pint of blood in a minute or two. My sister got caught in one of them. Not fun. She was covered in the little bastards.

One time, while hiking to go bass fishing in the high Uintas, I got attacked by a swarm of mosquitos so insane that they were trying to bite me through my shirt, through my shorts, my face was covered and one of the little bastards managed on land on my cornea. Nightmarish.

Re: Mosquitoes kill more than 700k people every year (2017)

#226
post #18

To put this in a perspective, 1 Mosquito 1,000,000 2 Human 475,000 3 Snake 50,000 4 Dog 25,000 5 Tsetse Fly 10,000 6 Assassin Bug 10,000 7 Freshwater Snail 10,000 8 Ascaris Roundworm 2,500 9 Tapeworm 2,000 10 Crocodile 1,000 11 Hippopotamus 500 12 Elephant 100 13 Lion 100 14 Wolf 10 15 Shark 10 https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-animals-that-kill-mo...

Poor sharks, they get one of the worst raps for how little damage they do to humans. I'm surprised to see dogs so high up on that list.

The dog attacks are really more about dogs that have rabies.

In countries that have good rabies control this is not an issue. For example, the US has 30 - 50 deaths due to dogs each year.

Re: Mosquitoes kill more than 700k people every year (2017)

#227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poor sharks, they get one of the worst raps for how little damage they do to humans. I'm surprised to see dogs so high up on that list.

I'm thinking, that data is more of a heat-map of interactions. Any human interaction with a shark in its environment, shark wins. So as a per-capita, they might be near 100%?

I've dived with sharks for years now. Most of them are some of the gentlest, shiest creatures in the water. In years of these interactions, neither I nor the shark won because literally nothing happened. They just run away from you if you get too close.

Most sharks will run away from the human as the human and their bubbles look far bigger than they are. They are more intimidated by us than we are by them.

Re: Mosquitoes kill more than 700k people every year (2017)

#228
post #158
post #18

To put this in a perspective, 1 Mosquito 1,000,000 2 Human 475,000 3 Snake 50,000 4 Dog 25,000 5 Tsetse Fly 10,000 6 Assassin Bug 10,000 7 Freshwater Snail 10,000 8 Ascaris Roundworm 2,500 9 Tapeworm 2,000 10 Crocodile 1,000 11 Hippopotamus 500 12 Elephant 100 13 Lion 100 14 Wolf 10 15 Shark 10 https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-animals-that-kill-mo...

Would love to see statistics from the other perspective: Which animals are killed most by humans? Besides insects, I would guess fish and chicken are quite high...

Does this include dust mites in the vacuum cleaner or washing machine?

Re: Mosquitoes kill more than 700k people every year (2017)

#229
post #199
post #18

To put this in a perspective, 1 Mosquito 1,000,000 2 Human 475,000 3 Snake 50,000 4 Dog 25,000 5 Tsetse Fly 10,000 6 Assassin Bug 10,000 7 Freshwater Snail 10,000 8 Ascaris Roundworm 2,500 9 Tapeworm 2,000 10 Crocodile 1,000 11 Hippopotamus 500 12 Elephant 100 13 Lion 100 14 Wolf 10 15 Shark 10 https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-animals-that-kill-mo...

This is unfair because Mosquitos don't kill anyone. They are a vector for pathogens that kill. Humans are also vectors for pathogens, we just don't count them as such.

Pathogens aren't animals, so the mosquito is the one counted.

They don't count humans the same as other animals, instead, they count homicide/war (intentional killing), and you can just consider it a point of reference. Are you going to count accidents? Suicide? Anything that can be traced to human decisions? Anything that can be traced to human biology?

Any way you count humans, it just isn't going to be equivalent.

Re: Mosquitoes kill more than 700k people every year (2017)

#230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poor sharks, they get one of the worst raps for how little damage they do to humans. I'm surprised to see dogs so high up on that list.

The dog attacks are really more about dogs that have rabies. In countries that have good rabies control this is not an issue. For example, the US has 30 - 50 deaths due to dogs each year.

North American and Western European audiences don't realise that while 1 dog can only sometimes hurt you, a pack of 8-10 non-rabid dogs can hunt an adult human down and kill them easily.

In countries around the world, it's more about packs of wild dogs and rabies, instead of just rabies alone.

Countries/Regions that have wild dog pack problems: India, Some Eastern European countries, South East Asia (almost all people who grew up in South Eastern Asia would have a childhood story of being followed home by a pack of dogs. They are quiet at the beginning, they follow you, and if no one else is home when you get there, LOCK THE DOOR and God protect you), some parts of Australia.

Post reply on HN