Seattle’s most dangerous animals and their little helpers After a string of animal-borne infections, a look at King County’s furry, feathered disease vectors

Turns out Western Washington’s critters are only cute on the outside. Take a look at some of the region’s most notorious walking, flying and sliding disease vectors. Information from Public Health – Seattle & King County. less Turns out Western Washington’s critters are only cute on the outside. Take a look at some of the region’s most notorious walking, flying and sliding disease vectors. Information from Public Health – ... more Photo: GRANT HINDSLEY, SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: GRANT HINDSLEY, SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Seattle’s most dangerous animals and their little helpers 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

Deer mice dropping hantavirus. Raccoons plopping roundworm. The occasional urban black bear … being a bear.

By tooth or by poop, Washington has plenty of animals that have it in for us, the region’s mostly hairless, terribly fragile apex predators. Check out the slideshow above to see how Seattle’s fauna, both domestic and wild, can hurt humans.

This spring has brought a spike in hantavirus cases in Washington. The virus, which is spread by deer mice droppings, can cause a pulmonary illness that is fatal in one-third of cases. Four hantavirus infections have been reported so far this year in Washington, including one that killed a Tri-Cities mother of three.

King County health officials believe a Seattle-area toddler may have contracted roundworm, a parasite spread by raccoons. The infection is extremely rare – less than one case a year has been reported in the United States – but can be deadly.

Public Health – Seattle & King County has an exhaustive collection of information on animal-borne diseases and ailments. That information is available on the county website.

They have a cute name, by the way, animal-borne diseases. They are called zoonoses.

Seattlepi.com reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.