Citation

Quezada-Nolasco JL, Galarde-López M, Sánchez-Zamorano LM, Serrano-Márquez JM, Arvizu-Tovar LO, Reyna-Sevilla A, Gallardo VMA, Soberanis-Ramos O. Acta Trop. 2023; 239: e106814.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.actatropica.2023.106814

PMID

36603802

Abstract

Dog and cat aggressions are public health concerns associated with rabies transmission to the human population. The social and environmental conditions of marginalized and urban areas stand a risk due to people's contact with dogs. This study aimed to identify spatial patterns related to dog and cat aggression in a densely populated area in the center of Mexico City, analyzing the risk of aggression at the census unit level in the 2018-2020 triennium. This cross-sectional study was carried out in Coyoacán, in the south-central area of Mexico City's urbanized region. The total number of cases (n=1,078) was obtained from monthly records of aggressions by dogs and cats, from the Control and Prevention of Zoonoses-Rabies Program of the Coyoacán Sanitary Jurisdiction. The information collected was related to the victims and the aggressors. Associations between the occurrence of bites and the characteristics of the victim were evaluated using a geographic information system (GIS), as well as the spatio-temporal distribution of the aggressions to the census unit level. Out of 1,078 cases reported, 977 (90.6%) were caused by dogs and 101 (9.4%) by cats, 55.1% (n=587) occurred within the same household, and 13.7% (n=148) were categorized as severe injuries. Adult men were the most affected group. Attacks on the street had a higher risk of resulting in a severe injury, compared to those that occurred at home (OR 1.63, 95CI 1.15 - 2.31, p <0.006). According to the standardized rate of the triennium, the values ​​ranged between 54.1 and 619 aggressions per 100,000 inhabitants, and summer was the season with a higher probability of occurrence. These results provide a basis for the analytical investigation of the spatial patterns of dog and cat aggression, highlighting the need to implement efficient surveillance systems and public health strategies.

Dog bites are the most frequent injuries among all animal aggressions, causing tens of millions of cases each year; being children the most exposed population group (Palacio et al., 2005; Ponsich et al., 2016; Katica et al., 2020). It has been estimated that around 60,000 cases of human rabies are associated with dog bites worldwide, which is a public health problem (WHO, 2022). In the United States of America (USA), approximately 4.5 million people are bitten by a dog every year (WHO, 2018). Hence, aggressions and/or injuries caused by dogs and cats are mandatory reporting events throughout the world, under the code W54 "dog bite or attack" and W55 "other mammal bite or attack" within the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (WHO, 2019a).

According to data recorded by the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), from 2005 to 2013 the annual incidence of dog attacks was 1.1 per 1000 inhabitants in the USA (Loder, 2019), with liability costs that range between 30 and 100 million dollars annually (Benson et al., 2006; Esposito et al., 2013)...

Language: en

Keywords

public health; accidental injuries; cat bites; dog bites; rabies