[Taxacom] Deadliest genera to humans

[Kenneth Kinman]

Hi All,
       Due to the feedback received so far, see below for two additions.  I have added Schistosoma and Entamoeba below the main list.  They probably caused over 200,000 deaths per year in the past, but treatment programs seem to have lowered the death tolls from those diseases.  As for Saccharum (excess sugar intake), I am leaving it as "over 10,000,000" even though some estimates (death due to cancer, heart disease, liver disease, in addition to diabetes) claim the numbers are over 35 million deaths per year (I haven't yet seen the statistics published by the Univ. of California in 2012):
 "Statistics published by the University of California in 2012 suggested that sugar was responsible for over 35 million deaths globally per year."  (Source:  https://www.esquireme.com/content/15484-5-serious-diseases-caused-by-sugar)

Saccharum, excess sugar intake (over 10,000,000 human deaths per year).
Nicotiana, causing cancers from tobacco smoking and chewing (over 5,000,000 human deaths per year).
Mycobacterium, especially M. tuberculosis (over 1,200,000 human deaths per year).
Lentavirus, causing HIV infections (over 770,000 deaths per year).
Plasmodium (Anopheles the vector) causing malaria (over 500,000 deaths per year).
Streptococcus, causing pneumonia (about 500,000 deaths per year).
Homo (humans killing over 400,000 humans per year, plus about 800,000 suicides).
Alphainfluenzavirus, causing flu (290,000-645,000 humans per year).
Norovirus (about 200,000 humans per year).
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Schistosoma, causing schistosomiasis (about 200,000 humans in the year 2000; but now lower due to treatment programs?)
Entamoeba, causing amoebic dysentery (50,000-100,000 humans per year).
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________________________________
From: Dan Lahr <dlahr at ib.usp.br>
Sent: Monday, February 10, 2020 10:59 AM
To: Kenneth Kinman <kinman at hotmail.com>
Cc: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Deadliest genera to humans

Ken,

I think this is quite an interesting list you've put together, looking at organisms as a whole rather than some arbitrary sub-division.  I would argue that for the first two, you are listing over-estimates because the causa mortis in those cases (diabetes, lung cancer) are in fact multi-factorial, but this is minutiae.

As an exercise for teaching, every year I gather information for the top 3 "infectious pathogens", and my results are the same as yours (TB, Malaria, Strep, in that order).

Interestingly, amoeboid dysentery is often cited as highly deadly, but all estimates are sufferable, but is a contender for your >200k requirement: because the causa mortis is diarrheal dehydration, Entamoeba is underreported, underestimated, underdiagnosed, misdiagnosed, and so forth.

I would be very interested to know if you have had more luck than me in finding Entamoeba data.

cheers,

dan
__________________________________
Daniel J. G. Lahr
PhD habil., Associate Prof.
Dept of Zoology, Univ. of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Office number: + 55 (11) 3091 0948
http://lahr.ib.usp.br
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On Mon, Feb 10, 2020 at 9:12 AM Kenneth Kinman via Taxacom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>> wrote:
Hi all,
      Which genera are the deadliest to humans?  The internet is full of lists of the "deadliest animals", but most of those kill far fewer humans each year than the genera listed below.  Are there any other genera that kill 200,000 or more people (worldwide) each year?
                                    -----------Ken Kinman

Saccharum, excess sugar intake (over 10,000,000 human deaths per year).
Nicotiana, via tobacco smoke (over 5,000,000 human deaths per year).
Mycobacterium, especially M. tuberculosis (over 1,200,000 human deaths per year).
Lentavirus causing HIV infections (over 770,000 deaths per year).
Plasmodium (Anopheles the vector) causing malaria (over 500,000 deaths per year).
Streptococcus causing pneumonia (about 500,000 deaths per year).
Homo (humans killing over 400,000 humans per year, plus about 800,000 suicides).
Alphainfluenzavirus causing flu (290,000-645,000 humans per year).
Norovirus (200,000 humans per year).
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