Animal Bites in Borujerd: An Overview of Animal Bites in Iran

Background: Rabies has been reported as the most important endemic zoonotic disease in Iran and still remains as a major public health problem. Objectives: The main objective of the current research was to study the epidemiology of animal bites in Borujerd County in Iran and to compare its prevalence to other parts of Iran from April ۲۰۰۶ to September ۲۰۱۱. Patients and Methods: The data were recorded in questionnaires and analyzed by SPSS version ۱۶. Chi-square test was performed to evaluate the relationship among variables and P value was set as ۰.۰۵. Results: Dog bites were the most common (۶۹.۸%), followed by cat (۱۷.۲%), fox and wolf (۱.۴%), sheep and cow (۲.۸%), monkey and donkey (۵%), mouse and squirrel (۲.۲%) and other animals (۱.۶%). Leg was the most common bite site forming ۴۶.۶% of cases, followed by hands (۴۱.۸%), buttocks (۴.۶%), head (۴%) and body (۲.۹%). Most of the subjects belonged to the age group < ۱۰ (۱۷۵.۲ per ۱۰۰۰۰۰ populations). The injury location was associated significantly with sex and the residential status. Conclusions: This study strongly highlights a high priority goal for health authorities to develop educational programs, recommended for the general population to inform them about the benefits of continuing the medication. Vaccination of domestic dogs and also eradication of stray ones, in addition to educational programs should be prioritized by health authorities.