The World's Deadliest Viruses May Not Be What You Expected

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When you hear the word virus, likely the one that comes to mind is the SARS-CoV-2 one. Unfortunately, that's just one of the planet's deadly viruses. There are actually more than 320,000 viruses that can infect mammals, and COVID isn't anywhere near the world’s deadliest. 

For instance, the human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) viruses are as scary as they can get. These viruses infect humans and may lead to AIDS. 

In fact, an estimated 32 million people have died from HIV since the disease was first identified in the 1980s and the virus is today responsible for almost 1 million deaths annually. Despite the fact it’s no longer considered the death sentence it once was, thanks to medication that can allow those who contract to live long and healthy lives, it's still a dangerous virus that has no cure.

Worst of all the disease today mostly affects low- and middle-income countries, which is where roughly 95% of new HIV infections occur. 

There's also SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, rabies, influenza, dengue, and more viruses that you could contract. All these have devastating effects around the world and continue to exist despite humanity's best efforts to wipe them out. Yikes!