Animal-related injuries resulting in emergency department visits and hospitalizations in the United States, 2006–2008

This paper presents information on emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations resulting from an animal-caused injury from 2006 to 2008 using data collected from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Information on the number of ED visits and hospitalizations from adverse animal encounters, the types of injuries resulting from such encounters, and the therapeutic procedures performed to treat injured persons from bites or stings caused by various species of animals are presented. The economic costs of animal-caused injuries also are discussed. Over 1 million hospital ED visits and 48,000 hospitalizations were reported annually in the United States due to an animal-caused injury during this time period. Infections resulting from non-venomous animal bites were the major cause of hospital admissions. The estimated cost of these visits, excluding physician fees during hospitalization, exceeded $2 billion annually. Many animal-related injuries can be prevented if advice from wildlife agencies or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were heeded.