{"id":68,"date":"2021-09-20T08:32:44","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T12:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/animal-contact-human-health\/?page_id=68"},"modified":"2026-07-15T14:55:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T18:55:24","slug":"animal-contact-human-health-statistics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/animal-contact-human-health\/animal-contact-human-health-statistics\/","title":{"rendered":"Animal Contact &amp; Human Health Statistics"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pl-68\"  class=\"panel-layout\" ><div id=\"pg-68-0\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-has-style\" ><div class=\"panel-row-style panel-row-style-for-68-0\" ><div id=\"pgc-68-0-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-68-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child\" data-index=\"0\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<h2>Animal Bite<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In the United States, more than 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs each year, requiring nearly 1 in 5 of those individuals to seek medical attention for subsequent injuries or infections.<\/li>\n<li>Children are at a higher risk of being bitten by dogs,\u00a0<em>and\u00a0<\/em>are likely to sustain more severe injury from dog bites.<\/li>\n<li>Younger children, particularly ages 5-9, account for the highest incidence of dog bites.<\/li>\n<li>The majority (61%) of dog bites will occur in the dog\u2019s home or in a familiar place with most (77%) of the biting dogs belonging to the victim\u2019s family or friends.<\/li>\n<li>An unneutered dog is 3x more likely to bite.<\/li>\n<li><em>Any<\/em>\u00a0dog of\u00a0<em>any<\/em> breed may bite. There is no way to know if a dog is a biter by only their breed, size, or age.<\/li>\n<li>Bites from cats, dogs, bats, and other wild animals can result in:\n<ul>\n<li>Rabies<\/li>\n<li>Bacterial infections<\/li>\n<li>Physical injury or impairment<\/li>\n<li>Mental injury such as PTSD<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-68-0-0-1\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor\" data-index=\"1\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<h2>Intestinal Illness<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/virginia-reportable-disease-surveillance-data\/\">Virginia Reportable Disease Surveillance Data<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/datastatistics\/index.html\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">Centers for Disease Control Data and Statistics<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Rabies Statistics<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-68-0-0-2\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-accordion\" data-index=\"2\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-accordion so-widget-sow-accordion-default-ac1ff0f17648-68\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div>\n\t<div class=\"sow-accordion\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-panel\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-anchor-id=\"animal-rabies-statistics\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-panel-header-container\" role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-panel-header\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" id=\"accordion-label-animal-rabies-statistics\" aria-controls=\"accordion-content-animal-rabies-statistics\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-title sow-accordion-title-icon-left\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAnimal Rabies Statistics\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-open-close-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-open-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"sow-icon-ionicons\" data-sow-icon=\"&#xf218;\"\n\t\t \n\t\taria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-close-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"sow-icon-ionicons\" data-sow-icon=\"&#xf209;\"\n\t\t \n\t\taria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"sow-accordion-panel-content\"\n\t\t\t\trole=\"region\"\n\t\t\t\taria-labelledby=\"accordion-label-animal-rabies-statistics\"\n\t\t\t\tid=\"accordion-content-animal-rabies-statistics\"\n\t\t\t\tstyle=\"display: none;\"\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-panel-border\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2026-2ND-QTR-POS-2.pdf\">2026 2nd QTR<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2025-Yearly-QTR-POS.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2025<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2025\/03\/2024-RABIES-YEARLY-POSITIVES.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2024<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2023\/07\/Yearly-Positives-2023.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2023<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2023\/04\/EOY-Rabies-Positives_2022.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" aria-describedby=\"pdf-download-warning\">2022<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2022\/02\/EOY-Rabies-Positives.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" aria-describedby=\"pdf-download-warning\">2021<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2020-Rabies-Yearly-Positives.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2020<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2019-Rabies-Yearly-Positives.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2019<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2022\/03\/2018-Animal-Rabies-Positives.pdf\" aria-describedby=\"pdf-download-warning\">2018<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2022\/11\/2017_Rabies-Positives_Pivot-Table_Website.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" aria-describedby=\"pdf-download-warning\">2017<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2016-Rabies-Yearly-Positives.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2016<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2015-Rabies-Yearly-Positives.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2015<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2022\/11\/2014-rabies-WeeklyReport.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" aria-describedby=\"pdf-download-warning\">2014<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2022\/11\/2013-rabies-WeeklyReport.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" aria-describedby=\"pdf-download-warning\">2013<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2022\/11\/2012-rabies-WeeklyReport.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" aria-describedby=\"pdf-download-warning\">2012<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2022\/11\/2011-rabies-WeeklyReport.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" aria-describedby=\"pdf-download-warning\">2011<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2022\/11\/2010-rabies-WeeklyReport1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" aria-describedby=\"pdf-download-warning\">2010<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2022\/11\/2009-weekly-rabies-report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" aria-describedby=\"pdf-download-warning\">2009<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2008-Rabies-Yearly-Positives.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2008<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2007-Rabies-Yearly-Positives.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2007<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2006-Rabies-Yearly-Positives.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2006<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2005-Rabies-Yearly-Positives.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2005<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-panel\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-anchor-id=\"human-rabies-cases-in-virginia\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-panel-header-container\" role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-panel-header\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" id=\"accordion-label-human-rabies-cases-in-virginia\" aria-controls=\"accordion-content-human-rabies-cases-in-virginia\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-title sow-accordion-title-icon-left\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHuman Rabies Cases in Virginia\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-open-close-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-open-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"sow-icon-ionicons\" data-sow-icon=\"&#xf218;\"\n\t\t \n\t\taria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-close-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"sow-icon-ionicons\" data-sow-icon=\"&#xf209;\"\n\t\t \n\t\taria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"sow-accordion-panel-content\"\n\t\t\t\trole=\"region\"\n\t\t\t\taria-labelledby=\"accordion-label-human-rabies-cases-in-virginia\"\n\t\t\t\tid=\"accordion-content-human-rabies-cases-in-virginia\"\n\t\t\t\tstyle=\"display: none;\"\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-panel-border\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<ul>\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/volumes\/67\/wr\/mm675152a2.htm\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">2017<\/a><\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/preview\/mmwrhtml\/mm5938a3.htm?s_cid=mm5938a3_w\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">2009<\/a><\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/preview\/mmwrhtml\/mm5245a4.htm\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">2003<\/a><\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/preview\/mmwrhtml\/00056456.htm\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">1998<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-panel\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-anchor-id=\"general-education\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-panel-header-container\" role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-panel-header\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" id=\"accordion-label-general-education\" aria-controls=\"accordion-content-general-education\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-title sow-accordion-title-icon-left\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGeneral Education\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-open-close-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-open-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"sow-icon-ionicons\" data-sow-icon=\"&#xf218;\"\n\t\t \n\t\taria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-close-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"sow-icon-ionicons\" data-sow-icon=\"&#xf209;\"\n\t\t \n\t\taria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"sow-accordion-panel-content\"\n\t\t\t\trole=\"region\"\n\t\t\t\taria-labelledby=\"accordion-label-general-education\"\n\t\t\t\tid=\"accordion-content-general-education\"\n\t\t\t\tstyle=\"display: none;\"\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-accordion-panel-border\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/Rabies-brochure_English.pdf\">Rabies brochure<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/Rabies-brochure_Amharic.pdf\">Amharic<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/Rabies-brochure_Dari.pdf\">Dari<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/Rabies-brochure_Hindi.pdf\">Hindi<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/Rabies-brochure_Korean.pdf\">Korean<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/Rabies-brochure_Pashto.pdf\">Pashto<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/Rabies-brochure_Russian.pdf\">Russian<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/Rabies-brochure_Spanish.pdf\">Spanish<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/Rabies-brochure_Tagalog.pdf\">Tagalog<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/Rabies-brochure_Ukrainian.pdf\">Ukrainian<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/Rabies-brochure_Urdu.pdf\">Urdu<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/Rabies-brochure_Vietnamese.pdf\">Vietnamese<\/a>) This resource is formatted for print distribution.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/epidemiology\/epidemiology-fact-sheets\/rabies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" aria-describedby=\"pdf-download-warning\">Rabies Fact Sheet<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-68-0-0-3\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-last-child\" data-index=\"3\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<h2>Other Animal-related Illness<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/virginia-reportable-disease-surveillance-data\/\">Virginia Reportable Disease Surveillance Data<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/datastatistics\/index.html\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">Centers for Disease Control Data and Statistics<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Animal Bite In the United States, more than 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs each year, requiring nearly 1 in 5 of those individuals to seek medical attention for subsequent injuries or infections. Children are at a higher risk of being bitten by dogs,\u00a0and\u00a0are likely to sustain more severe injury from dog bites. Younger [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Animal Contact &amp; Human Health Statistics - Animal Contact &amp; Human Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/animal-contact-human-health\/animal-contact-human-health-statistics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Animal Contact &amp; Human Health Statistics - Animal Contact &amp; Human Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Animal Bite In the United States, more than 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs each year, requiring nearly 1 in 5 of those individuals to seek medical attention for subsequent injuries or infections. Children are at a higher risk of being bitten by dogs,\u00a0and\u00a0are likely to sustain more severe injury from dog bites. 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Children are at a higher risk of being bitten by dogs,\u00a0and\u00a0are likely to sustain more severe injury from dog bites. 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