Deadly diseases you can catch from animals - A number of today's diseases have been passed on to humans by animals. Many of these diseases, called zoonoses, can be deadly and continue to claim lives every year. From HIV to Ebola, find out which fatal diseases we have inherited from the animal kingdom.

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HIV - AIDS didn't explode until the 1980s. But the HIV virus is said to have been passed on from chimpanzees to humans in the early 1900s.

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HIV - The theory is that a Cameroonese hunter brought back an infected chimpanzee and while butchering the primate, cut himself, or had a open wound, through which the virus was transmitted.

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BSE (mad cow disease) - Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, most commonly known as mad cow disease, is a neurodegenerative disease. The human variant is called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).

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BSE (mad cow disease) - The first case of vCJD was reported in the UK in 1996. European Union banned British beef between 1996 and 1999. A number of cases were then reported throughout the world.

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H5N1 virus (bird flu) - Avian influenza H5N1 is most commonly known as bird flu.

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H5N1 virus (bird flu) - H5N1 is deadly to most birds and it can be potentially fatal to humans too. 

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H1N1 virus (swine flu) - In 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared H1N1 as a pandemic.

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H1N1 virus (swine flu) - It is estimated that the outbreak of swine flu killed approximately 203,000 people worldwide.

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Rabies - Rabies is a virus that affects the brain and can be fatal. It can be passed on to humans through an infected animal's bite.

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Rabies - Pets such as cats and dogs are at risk of contracting the virus and consequently passing it on to humans.

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Ebola - African fruit bats are reponsible for spreading the Ebola virus disease. Ebola is a viral hemorrhagic fever that affects the immune system, and it can be deadly in humans.

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Ebola - In 2014, the West Africa Ebola outbreak killed 11,310 people.

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Hendra - The first cases were reported in Australia in the mid 1990s. Australian flying foxes are thought to be the responsible for spreading the hendra virus, mostly to horses.

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Hendra - Most humans get infected through contact with sick horses than through direct contact with these huge bats. The hendra virus can be fatal in humans.

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African Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) - Tsetse flies carry and spread this parasitic disease. There have been several epidemics throughout the years in sub-Saharan Africa.

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African Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) - The World Health Organization estimates that the disease currently affects around 20,000 people.

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SARS - Chinese horseshoe bats are responsible for hosting and spreading the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus.

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SARS - An outbreak in China claimed 775 lives between November 2002 and July 2003. 

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Machupo virus (Bolivian hemorrhagic fever) - Bolivian field mice carry the Machupo virus responsible for the Bolivian hemorrhagic fever.

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Machupo virus (Bolivian hemorrhagic fever) - The Bolivian hemorrhagic fever can be potentially fatal in humans.

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Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) - The virus is mostly transmitted to humans through Ixodid ticks.

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Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) - Humans can also catch the virus if they come into contact with infected animals (e.g. livestock).

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Lassa Fever - Multimammate rats are responsible for spreading the virus, which is endemic to West Africa.

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Lassa Fever - In 2018, 114 deaths were reported, following an outbreak of the disease in Nigeria.

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Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) -

This virus was first discovered in Saudi Arabia in 2012. It is believed that the Egyptian tomb bat is the original carrier of the virus, which has then been passed on to dromedary camels.

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Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) - Humans are mostly infected through contact with dromedary camels. 806 deaths have been reported since the virus was first identified.

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Marburg - The African fruit bat has been identified as the reservoir host of Marburg virus.

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Marburg - The virus causes symptoms similar to those of Ebola and can be fatal.

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