Epidemiology, Clustering and Spatial Distribution of Animal Bites in Algeria

Introduction: Animals can transmit many viral and bacterial diseases through bites and saliva that canbe potentially fatal to human. Rabies, one of these diseases, is rife in two-thirds of the world’s countries.Algeria is not spared. This study was scoped to provide insight into the demography and epidemiology, spatialdistribution and clustering patterns of animal bites in Algeria. Methods: The global and local Moran's I were used to investigate geographic clustering patterns of animalbites in Algeria. The animal bites data provided by North West Health Region (NWHR) Observatory wasanalyzed to glean useful information. Results: Over the past five decades, 1201 human rabies fatalities have been recorded in Algeria with a yearlyaverage of 20 cases and a male predominance. As for 2017, a total of 116403 animal attacks were recorded.Dog bites accounted for 64.1%, followed by cat bites for 30.5%. The rabies vaccine was practiced in 74% ofcases and vaccine with rabies immune globulin in 26% cases. The incidence was estimated at 279 per 100000inhabitants. The incidence of animal bites, dog and cat bites exhibited spatial autocorrelation globally; theMoran index values were 0.41, 0.43 and 0.60 respectively. Significant hot spots were located in Tell, andsignificant cold spots were located on Sahara and High-Plateaus. The analysis of the 21314 animal attacksreported in NWHR in 2019, showed that young children and men are the most-at-risk. Indeed, 71.3% weremale and 58.7% occurred outdoors. Among the 8275 bites that occurred in children under 15 years, 66.8%were boys and 29.3% were children under 5 years. Most of the bites were Category II(45.7%) followed byCategory III(38.6%). Conclusion: The current strategy needs to be reviewed, reformed and strengthened while promoting cross-sectoral work with a collaborative approach of all relevant sectors for a One Health initiative.