Epidemiological survey of animal bites in east of Iran

Objectives: Animal bite is an important public health problem. In Iran, surveillance system carries out primary prevention for total animal bite cases in order to prevention of rabies. This study is carried out to investigate animal bite epidemiology in Birjand from 2002 to 2009. Patients and Methods: Standardized investigation form is used to record data from Birjand health center regarding demographic data of individuals, exposure status, treatment and biting animals between 2002 and 2009. Results: The mostly affected individuals were in age group of 20-29 (23.9%), males (78.3%) and in rural residents (64.2%). Moreover, 86.3% were bitten by domestic animals and most cases were bitten by dog (80.3 %). Incidence rate of animal bites in Birjand was increased from 54.36 to 86.74 in 100 000 from 2002 to 2009. Conclusion: This study indicated that rabies surveillance in Birjand should focus on education to individuals, domestic animal vaccination and eradication of stray dogs.