User:Keniett J. Vazquez/Animal attack

1941 poster for the Cleveland Division of Health encouraging dog bite victims to report dog bites to the proper authorities.

Animal attacks are violent, often fatal attacks caused by animals against humans, one of the most common being bites. Bites are wounds caused as a result of an animal or human attack. These attacks cause of human injuries and fatalities worldwide. According to the 2012 U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook, 56% of United States citizens owned a pet. In the United States in 1994, approximately 4.7 million people were bitten by dogs. One factor that has notably affected the amount of these statistical numbers has been the increase in the animal population. This has increased the risk of transmission of zoonotic diseases and other bacteria that can affect human health. The frequency of animal attacks varies with geographical location. In the United States, a person is more likely to be killed by a domesticated dog than they are to die from being hit by lightning according to the National Safety Council.

Animal attacks have been identified as a major public health problem. In 1997, it was estimated that up to 2 million animal bites occur each year in the United States. Injuries caused by animal attacks result in thousands of fatalities worldwide every year. "Unprovoked attacks occur when the animal approaches and attacks a person(s) who is the principal attractant, for example, predation on humans..." All causes of death are reported to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) each year. Medical injury codes are used to identify specific cases. The World Health Organization uses identical coding, though it is unclear whether all countries keep track of fatalities caused by animals. Though animals, excluding some tigers, do not regularly hunt humans, there is concern that these incidents are " bad for many species -public image-.”

Contents

• 1Epidemiology and injuries
• 2Infections
• 3Treatments
• 4Medical codes for animal attacks
• 5Notable deaths
• 6See also
• 7References
• 8Further reading
• External links

Epidemiology and injuries

Animal bites are the most common form of injury from animal attacks. The U.S. estimated annual count of animal bites is 250,000 human bites, 1 to 2 million dog bites, 400,000 cat bites, and 45,000 bites from snakes. Bites from skunks, horses, squirrels, rats, rabbits, pigs, and monkeys may be up to 1 percent of bite injuries. Pet ferrets attacks that were unprovoked have caused serious facial injuries. Non-domesticated animals, though assumed to be more common especially as a cause of rabies infection, make up less than one percent of reported bite wounds. When a person is bitten, it is more likely to occur on the right arm, most likely due to defensive reactions when the victims use her or his dominant arm. The most common place for fatal bites are mostly on the individual's head. Estimates are that three-quarters of bites are located on the arms or legs of humans. Bites to the face of humans constitute only ten percent of the total. Two-thirds of bite injuries in humans are suffered by children aged ten and younger. Bite injuries are often the consequences of an animal attack, including those instances when a human attacks another human. Human bites are the third most frequent type of bite after dog and cat bites. Dog bites are commonplace, with children the most commonly bitten with the face and scalp the most common target.

In this image, you can see two of the characteristic features that help to identify the rabies virus in dogs, the characteristic features of aggressiveness, and the saliva of dogs. When a dog becomes infected with the rabies virus, it becomes more aggressive, its saliva becomes thicker than usual, it is in excess, and it maintains a deep white color. If you come into contact with it, mainly through a bite, you run the risk of becoming infected with rabies.

Infections

Animal bites carry an increased risk of infection due to their exposure to different bacteria that animals have in their oral cavity, including the most common, rabies. Rabies is a viral disease that attacks the central nervous system, it is preventable, but it is common to occur through animal attacks such as bites, whose effect can be mortal, according to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). The method of transmission is mainly by contact with saliva, scratches, or bites of animals (all mammals can suffer from it, but the dogs stand out), both domestic and wild, which contain the rabies virus in their system. How the virus contagion process works is due to the passage of animal saliva towards the skin, penetrating it, and causing it to become contagious. At the time of infection with the rabies virus, it travels to the brain, causing encephalitis (an inflammation in the brain). The signs are expressed in the infected body through it. The incubation of the virus in the body has an average duration of one to three months. The agent that causes the creation of rabies is the neurotropic RNA, whose family is Rhabdoviridae and its genus, Lyssavirus. As this is a global problem (although it is not treated with the same importance as other viruses), doctors should consider while reviewing patients, if their medical history documents have ever suffered bites from animals, opt for the necessary precautions or other secondary effects that could occur. According to the Animal Bite: Rabies and Beyond Rabies; A Review article, the microbiological studies are carried out to determine some of these infections, frequently these infections are polymicrobial with different mixtures of aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms. Some of these bacteria are not directly related to rabies and are part of other diseases and infections. They are identified by the remains that are held in injuries, or by the physical environment in which they remain. These bacteria are Pasteurella spp., Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Moraxella, Corynebacterium, Neisseria, Fusobacterium, Bacteroides, Posphuomonoa, Capnocytophagacanimorsus, and Prevotella. Also, because bites and scratches are open lesions, there may be an additional risk of infection in the body, this is the risk of contracting the bacterial infection of tetanus, caused by the bacteria clostridium.

Treatments

Furthermore to prophylactic antibiotics treatment at the time of infection, the most recommended method to prevent the transmission of the rabies virus from animals to humans and between animals is vaccination. The rabies vaccine works in both (animals and humans), prevents virus infection, and reduces the risk of exposure. It is recommendable to visit the doctor for advice on the importance of the vaccine and how you can get it.

The subsequent treatment for those who have been attacked (if they survive) depends on the injuries. Though trauma may be addressed first, subsequent infections are also treated with appropriate antibiotics. The use of prophylactic antibiotics can significantly reduce the risk of producing a serious infection in the lesion. It is important to visit a doctor if the injury is very serious. To prevent serious and even fatal infections from bites, it is recommended to vaccinate both humans and animals with the rabies vaccine, even if the person is not directly exposed to that infection. Besides, it is essential to know and consider the probability of transmission, the animal species that caused the injury, the type of injury, the severity of the injury and age, health, and other aspects of the affected individual. If the person has suffered a (serious) bite caused by a dog, documentation of the bite is required. It is necessary to use photographs and diagrams according to the seriousness of the matter.

Additional information

In 1936, amputation was required in one-third of cases in which treatment was delayed for 24 hours or longer. Up to three-quarters of dog bites happen to those younger than 20 years old. In the United States, the costs associated with dog bites are estimated to be more than $1 billion annually. The age groups that suffer most from dog bites are children 5 to 9 years old. Often, bites go unreported and no medical treatment is given. As many as one percent of pediatric emergency room visits are for treatment for animal bites. This is more frequent during the summer months. Up to five percent of children receiving emergency care for dog bites are then admitted to the hospital. Bites typically occur in the late afternoon and early evening. Girls are bitten more frequently by cats than they are by dogs. Boys are bitten by dogs two times more often than girls.

Medical codes for animal attacks

Injuries resulting from encounters with animals occur with sufficient frequency to require the use of medical codes by clinicians and insurance companies to document such encounters. The ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Codes are used to identify diseases, their causes, injuries in the United States. Clinicians use these codes to quantify the medical condition and its causes and to bill insurance companies for the treatment required as a result of encounters with animals.