Abstract
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 2006 to September 2011.
Patients and Methods: The data were recorded in questionnaires and analyzed by SPSS version 16. Chi-square test was performed to
evaluate the relationship among variables and P value was set as 0.05.
Results: Dog bites were the most common (69.8%), followed by cat (17.2%), fox and wolf (1.4%), sheep and cow (2.8%), monkey and donkey
(5%), mouse and squirrel (2.2%) and other animals (1.6%). Leg was the most common bite site forming 46.6% of cases, followed by hands
(41.8%), buttocks (4.6%), head (4%) and body (2.9%). Most of the subjects belonged to the age group < 10 (175.2 per 100000 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.