Disection of wild animals found dead can be especially risky. Marine organisms frequently contain chemicals which give painful reactions or allergies. There are well over 100 diseases of animals which could be transmitted to people. About a dozen of these are known to have been transferred from naturally infected animals to people in laboratories, viz. Lympohcytic chorimeningitis, infectious hepatitis, cat scratch fever, Newcastle disease, psittacosis, monkey B virus, leptospirosis, tuberculosis, malaria, amebiasis, shigellosis, and streptococcal and staphylococcal infections.
Animals can also transmit diseases from one human to another.
Any animal bite should be treated as serious and the animal isolated, not killed. Finally, it should be remembered that some children may be averse to dissection for one reason or another. Alternate exercises should be planned for such cases. Necessary space for cleaning cages and preparing food should be available. You should familiarize yourself with the toxic plants of your area.