Fact or Fiction: Are Urban Vermin the Most Disease-Ridden Animals?

January 17, 2008, 2:00 am by Scientific American: Health

In many cities, pigeons--to take one urban animal--are reviled as flying vermin. They whitewash ledges and pick at filthy crumbs in the gutter. And, yes, these, dubbed by some as "rats with wings," do carry diseases that humans can catch. But so do innumerable wild creatures outside city limits, the animals we eat--even our beloved pets.

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