(StatePoint) The world’s deadliest animal isn’t a lion, tiger, bear or venomous snake. It’s a tiny but bloodthirsty insect: the mosquito. And the assumption of many pet lovers that mosquitoes are just a seasonal threat may be putting their four-legged family members at risk.

Mosquitoes harbor and transmit a variety of life-threatening diseases to people and their pets, thus earning the “world’s deadliest” designation. One of the most serious and prevalent mosquito-borne diseases in pets is heartworm disease—a disease characterized by foot-long worms that obstruct the lungs and arteries of pets, causing issues that range from coughing and vomiting to serious breathing problems and heart failure.

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