Epidemiological characteristics and trends of animal bites in Neyshabur, Iran: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

To investigate the trend of animal bites between 2015-2021 in Neyshabur, Iran. In this cross-sectional descriptive study, data were retrieved from the vice-chancellery of the Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences. The data included person variables, place and time variables, and animal variables. There were 13190 cases of animal bites and the trend was increasing during 2015-2020. Most injuries were caused by dogs (86%), most animal bites (76.6%) occurred in males, and 28.1% of all cases were farmers. The most common bitten parts were the lower limbs (64.8%), often reported as a scratch (83.4%). Most of the biting animals (67.9%) were not strays, and 83.3% of them had bitten their owners. No rabies death was reported during the study period. The incidence of animal bites increases and is higher than the national statistics in Neyshabur, Iran. Serious attention and intervention should be given to control and prevent this health threat.