世界上最致命的動(dòng)物是什么?

世界上最致命的動(dòng)物是什么?

Like a lot of folks from my generation, I've been afraid of sharks since the movie "Jaws" first hit theaters in the late '70s. But while sharks sure look the part, the truth of the matter is that they don't even come close to being the world's deadliest animals. (In fact, there are many animals deadlier than sharks, so let's give them a break.)

和我們這一代的很多人一樣，自從電影《大白鯊》在70年代末上映以來，我就一直害怕鯊魚。雖然鯊魚看起來確實(shí)很像，但事實(shí)是，它們根本就不是世界上最致命的動(dòng)物。(事實(shí)上，有很多動(dòng)物比鯊魚更致命，所以我們讓它們休息一下吧。)

So which animal takes that prize? When it comes to human deaths, no other animal comes close — not even humans themselves.

那么哪個(gè)動(dòng)物獲得了這個(gè)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)呢?說到人類的死亡，沒有其他動(dòng)物能與之相比——甚至人類自己也不行。

It's the mosquito.

這是蚊子。

It may be small enough to sit on this leaf, but the mosquito is terrifyingly efficient at killing people. (Photo: Dmitrijs Bindemanis/Shutterstock)

How could a teeny little insect be so dangerous? After all, their bites may be a little itchy, but life-threatening?

一只小小的昆蟲怎么會(huì)這么危險(xiǎn)呢?畢竟，他們的叮咬可能會(huì)有點(diǎn)癢，但會(huì)危及生命?

It's not the bite, per se, it's the diseases transferred during the bite that make mosquitoes so dangerous to humans. Mosquitoes carry malaria — a disease that kills 400,000 people a year and sickens 200 million more — and that's not counting deaths from dengue fever, yellow fever, zika, West Nile and encephalitis, according to ISGlobal, the Barcelona Institute for Global Health. Adding up all the diseases, the final death count is closer to 725,000 a year.

蚊子對(duì)人類非常危險(xiǎn)，并不是因?yàn)槎ＲП旧?，而是叮咬過程中傳播的疾病。根據(jù)巴塞羅那全球健康研究所ISGlobal的數(shù)據(jù)，蚊子攜帶瘧疾——每年有40萬人死于這種疾病，另有2億多人患病——這還不包括登革熱、黃熱病、寨卡病毒、西尼羅河病毒和腦炎造成的死亡。把所有的疾病加起來，最終的死亡人數(shù)接近每年725,000人。

In fact, it was the mosquito's killing prowess that prompted Timothy C. Winegard to write "The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator." The professor of history and political science at Colorado Mesa University declares that the mosquito has been the single most powerful force in determining humanity's fate. He estimates that over time, mosquitoes have killed 52 billion people.

事實(shí)上，正是蚊子的殺戮能力促使蒂莫西c維恩加德寫下了《蚊子:我們?nèi)祟悮v史最致命的捕食者》?？屏_拉多梅薩大學(xué)的歷史和政治學(xué)教授宣稱蚊子是決定人類命運(yùn)的唯一最強(qiáng)大的力量。他估計(jì)，隨著時(shí)間的推移，蚊子已經(jīng)殺死了520億人。

They are also everywhere. Mosquitoes are present in every corner of the world except for Antarctica and during peak breeding season, they outnumber every other animal on Earth except termites and ants. So the danger to humans is widespread.

它們也無處不在。除了南極洲，世界各地都有蚊子。在繁殖高峰期，蚊子的數(shù)量超過了地球上除白蟻和螞蟻以外的所有動(dòng)物。所以對(duì)人類的危險(xiǎn)是普遍的。

The good news is that unlike sharks, mosquitoes are easier to repel, and most mosquito-borne diseases can be avoided with vaccinations. Of course the trick is getting these vaccinations to the people who need them the most.

好消息是，與鯊魚不同，蚊子更容易被擊退，而且大多數(shù)由蚊子傳播的疾病都可以通過接種疫苗來避免。當(dāng)然，關(guān)鍵是把這些疫苗接種給最需要的人。

In his personal blog, Bill Gates shared the infographic below devoted to "these flying masters of mayhem," and he also writes about some of the work being done around the world to eradicate them.

在他的個(gè)人博客中，比爾·蓋茨分享了下面這張關(guān)于“這些飛行高手制造混亂”的信息圖表，他還寫了一些世界各地正在進(jìn)行的消滅它們的工作。

Infographic courtesy of Gates Notes

蓋茨筆記提供的信息圖表

Eradicating them would be an amazing feat. Then the only thing left for humans to worry about would be humans, themselves. And there's no vaccine for that.

根除它們將是一個(gè)驚人的壯舉。那么人類唯一需要擔(dān)心的就是人類自己。目前還沒有這種疫苗。