dog/animal bite epidemiology and rabies

Question 1

who do dogs bite

Answer 1

• accurate data not available due to lack of national dog bite database
• kids (5-9 yr old boys)
• veterinarians

Question 2

where do dogs bite

Answer 2

most commonly:
* face
* hand
* lower arm
* lower leg
* finger

Question 3

what kinds of dogs bite

Answer 3

• little to no evidence of breed
• size and strength of dog are logically linked to severity of injury
• media bias
• familiar dogs

Question 4

most dog bites include multiple preventable factors:

Answer 4

• lack of supervision
• sexually intact animal
• resident instead of personal dog
• victim interacts inappropriately with animal
• history of abuse for animal

Question 5

how are dog bites prevented

Answer 5

• avoid situations where it is likely to happen again
• supervision of dogs and children - expert consensus is that this is the most critical factor & probably the most scientifically based recommendation you can make
• make sure clients and their children are aware of canine body language
• education
• breed-specific legislation - no studies have shown efficacy

Question 6

when are dog bites “serious”

Answer 6

• infection (15-20% dog bites become infected, puncture and crush most likely, organisms)
• dog-bite related fatalities (very uncommon)

Question 7

cat bites

Answer 7

• 400,000 annually (85% on hand)
• 66,000 tx
• some deaths
• deep puncture wounds common

Question 8

what is rabies caused by

Answer 8

a bullet-shaped lyssavirus

Question 9

how do most people contract rabies worldwide?

Answer 9

being bitten by domestic dogs

Question 10

rabies is a ____ disease

stage of life

Answer 10

childhood

Question 11

how is rabies transmitted

Answer 11

• infectious material (saliva and nervous tissue)
• not infectious (blood, urine, feces)
• unstable in the environment

Question 12

rabies may be shed by infected animals for several days ____ the onset of clinical signs

Answer 12

before

Question 13

what is the incubation period for rabies in people

Answer 13

1-3 months but can be greater than a year - depends on location of bite site - further from CNS = longer incubation period

Question 14

when to recieve post-exposure prophylaxis

Answer 14

before onset of clinical signs

medical urgency not emergency

Question 15

what is R0

Answer 15

• basic reproduction number
• the average number of new cases of an infection caused by one typical infected individual, in a population consisting of susceptibles only

Question 16

variants adapted to a particular carnivore have an R0:

Answer 16

greater than zero (so the spread continutes)

Question 17

spillover of variant viruses into NON-host adapted means:

Answer 17

R0 is less than zero (can’t have an epidemic)

Question 18

how can you reduce R0

Answer 18

by reducing the number of susceptible individuals