epidemiology of animal bite in aq qala city

background: animal bites considered as one of the issues and problems of public health that potentially has the risk of rabies disease. this study was conducted to determine the epidemiology of animal bite in aq qala city during the years1998-2009. methods: in this descriptive cross-sectional study, 13142 cases of animal bite recorded in aq qala city rabies treatment center selected by census method were studied. data collection tool was the information of individuals’ registered office profile that had referred to rabies center of aq qala city. obtained data analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency distribution, percentage, mean and standard deviation) and chi square test. findings: 13142 cases (72.1% men and 27.9% women) had been registered. mean age of injured population was 25.0 +/- 17.8 and most of them (84%) were rural. most cases of animal bite were by dogs (97.8%) and occurred in the leg (69.6%). regarding the occupation, most of the injured populations were students (28.9%). the highest frequencies of bites were in the spring (28.8%). the incidence rate of animal bite was 1/100000 people. the highest and lowest incidence rate was 1678/100000 in 2004 and 1005/100000 in 2009, respectively. there was significant relationship between season and number of bites (p <0.05). conclusion: the incidence of animal bites in aq qala city was higher than other studies in different parts of the country. considering the high costs of anti-rabies serum and vaccination, necessary measures is essential to reduce the incidence rate of this problem.