Abstract
It commonly is rumored that in large scale disasters, packs of dogs present a human health hazard because of dog bites. However, it is likely that factors other than pack behavior comprise greater risk factors for dog bites in disaster-response personnel. Important risk factors include: 1) the density of the human population, which in turn, determines the number of dogs at a disaster site; 2) territorial behavior of dogs at their site of residence, which determines the frequency with which dogs may bite; and 3) whether rabies is present at endemic or epidemic levels within the area in which the disaster is occurring, which determines the likelihood of fatal outcomes. Persons bitten by a dog should seek medical attention as contraction of rabies may result in a fatal outcome from a dog bite. It is recommended that disaster response personnel obtain pre-exposure vaccination against rabies. Vaccinated or not, they immediately should seek post-exposure treatment for rabies following potential exposure.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 58-62 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Prehospital and disaster medicine : the official journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the World Association for Emergency and Disaster Medicine in association with the Acute Care Foundation |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 2-4 |
State | Published - 1998 |
Externally published | Yes |