Baguio animal bites up by 4 percent last year

The City Animal Bite Center based at the City health Services Office disclosed that animal bite incidents last year increased by around four percent compared to similar incidents during the previous year.          

Agnes Johana Abad, nurse of the City Animal Bite Center, claimed that last year, there were some 4,537 residents and 34 transients who were treated in the said clinic for the anima bites that they sustained where the same is around 3.97 percent higher compared to the 4,219 animal bites that were recorded by the center during the previous year.     

She said that most of the animal bites that the patients sustained were dog bites from their pets and stray animals.               

The nurse of the animal bite center stipulated that the reason for the sudden increase in animal bite cases in the city is because of the easing up of the community quarantine restrictions supposedly to contain the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus.

From 2018 to 2022, the said center was able to record some 20,353 animal bites where the incidents in 2018 was the highest with 5,482 animal bites.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the recorded animal bites in the city was 3,806 while the animal bites during the pre-pandemic was lower with 3,278 animal bites.        

On the other hand, the Irisan health district reported the highest number of animal bites last year with 401 followed by the Lucban health district with 354, Pinsao district – 321, Atab – 300 and Asin – 268.

The health districts with the lowest number of animal bites cases were the Mines View district with 140 followed by Quirino Hill district with 116 and Scout Barrio – 93. By Dexter A. See