Where "cute" meets "disease carrier"

Ever wondered what's out there in the suburban or semirural backyard? Here's a list of wildlife hosts and their diseases that may be infectious to domestic animals or humans.

Shutterstock.comWhite-tailed deer

Meningeal worm (Parelaphostrongylus tenuis)

Bovine tuberculosis (in parts of Michigan and Indiana)

Liver flukes (Fascioloides magna)

Shutterstock.comBlack bear

Baylisascaris transfuga

Raccoon

Rabies

Canine distemper virus

Parvovirus

Baylisascaris procyonis

Leptospira interrogans

Shutterstock.comStriped skunk

Rabies

Canine distemper virus

Leptospira interrogans

Baylisascaris columnaris

Shutterstock.comFoxes

Canine distemper virus (primarily gray foxes)

Rabies

Echinococcus multilocularis

Dirofilaria immitis

Sarcoptes scabiei (red foxes)

Shutterstock.comCoyote

Canine distemper virus

Parvovirus

Echinococcus multilocularis

Dirofilaria immitis

Rabies

Sarcoptes scabiei

Neospora caninum

Shutterstock.comOpossum

Leptospira interrogans

Sarcocystis neurona

Shutterstock.comCottontail rabbit

Tularemia

Shutterstock.comDiseases associated with unsanitary bird feeders/waterers

Salmonella species

Aspergillus species