A look at the incidence and risk factors for dog bites in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, USA

Vet World Vol.13 March-2020 Article-4

Research Article

Veterinary World, 13(3): 419-425

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2020.419-425

Bonnie C. Hasoon^1,2, Alyssa E. Shipp², and Jamal Hasoon³

1. Division of Zoonoses, Harris County Veterinary Public Health, Houston, Texas 77076, USA.
2. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Texas A&M School of Public Health, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
3. Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.

Background and Aim: This study examined the incidence, demographic predictors, and map patterns of dog bites to humans in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, USA.

Materials and Methods: Dog bites reported to Harris County Veterinary Public Health (HCVPH) between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2016, were analyzed in this retrospective cohort study. Canine and victim characteristics and bite circumstances were evaluated to establish risk factors for bites. Geographic location was used to produce choropleth maps.

Results: There were 6683 dog bites reported to HCVPH between the years of 2013 and 2016, with stable incidence rates over time. The incidence was highest for both children and older adults. Dogs with the primary breed of Pit Bull had the greatest frequency of bites (25.07%), with the second highest breed being Labrador Retrievers (13.72%). Bites were more common from intact dogs of both genders, especially from intact males. Persons aged 70+ had the greatest incidence of severe injury (14.09/100,000). A strong correlation between dog bite incidences and stray dogs was found after controlling for the human population and income.

Conclusion: Dog bites remain a largely preventable issue, and risk factors identified in this study can help direct preventative efforts to reduce the incidence of dog bites. Keywords: companion animal behavior, epidemiology, injury, overpopulation, public health.

Keywords: companion animal behavior, epidemiology, injury, overpopulation, public health.

How to cite this article: Hasoon BC, Shipp AE, Hasoon J (2020) A look at the incidence and risk factors for dog bites in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, USA, Veterinary World, 13(3): 419-425.

Received: 25-11-2019 Accepted: 21-01-2020 Published online: 05-03-2020

Corresponding author: Bonnie C. Hasoon E-mail: bonniepchu@gmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2020.419-425

Copyright: Hasoon, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.