Table 1

Comparison of reported national/international dog bite rates by severity (rates/100 000)

Country	Period	Death rate	Hospital admission rate	Emergency department presentation rate	All medically treated rate	Total dog bite rate
SES = socioeconomic status. *Laboratory Centre for Disease Control, Health Canada, analysis of data from Statistics Canada and Canadian Institute for Health Information, unpublished results.
Australia	1995/96	0.004	7.7
Adelaide²⁶	Jan 1990–July 1993			73
Latrobe Valley (rural Victoria)¹¹	1994/95			151	263
Canada*	1994–96		2.6
	1987–97	0.007
Guelph³⁴	1986–87					160 (reported to health unit for review and police complaints reports)
England²⁵
Salisbury: high SES				150
Thanet: low SES				300
Netherlands³⁵	1992–96			78
New Zealand²⁴	1988		4.8
Dunedin	1989–90			175
Hamilton	1988			173
Lower Hutt	1990			85
United States^6,^7,³⁰	1992–94			129		1800 (national telephone survey)
	1995–96	0.05–0.07
	1994				300
Pittsburgh³⁶	1993					589 (animal control and police reports)