The prevalence of rabies and animal bites during 1994 to 2003 in Kerman province, southeast of Iran

To find the prevalence of domestic and wild animal bites in general, and that of rabies disease in human, in particular in Kerman province, southeastern Iran, a retrospective study was conducted. The necessary data including residence place (urban or rural) of bitten persons, age and job of people were collected during a 10-year period from 21 March 1994 to 21 March 2003 from all regional cities including the urban and rural areas of the province. Data were analysed by chi-square, Fisher’s exact test, Pearson correlation coefficient, Student’s t-test and Kolmogrov Smironov test using SPSS (v. 11.5). The results of the present study showed that the fatal cases of human rabies in the province of Kerman from 1994 to 2003 were 10 persons (8 males and 2 females), half of whom had been bitten by dogs and the others by foxes. No human rabies reported in 1994 in Kerman province. 47% of animal bitten persons had been injured through feet; 41% hands; 7% trunks; 3% faces and 2% through head and neck. From all (21,546 people) who had been bitten by animals during the studied period, 55.57% were living in rural and 44.43% in urban areas; 79.36% of them were treated by non-completed rabies prophylaxis regimens and 20.64% received completed rabies prophylaxis-treatment regimens. The most common affected age group was 10–19-year-old persons; the least was children aged under 4 years. Males were more frequently (73.48%) affected than females (26.52%) (P<0.01). We found that there was a significant inverse correlation between the amount of annual raining and the incidence of animal bites (r = 0.5, P = 0.01); the incidence of animal bites was increased during the drought years. The increasing number of stray dogs and cats should not be ignored by public health authorities as well as Veterinary Public Health Organizations related to strategic programs of rabies control in the southeast of Iran.