Dog bites the leading cause of illness in state

Patna: It was neither malaria, typhoid, nor dengue — dog bites emerged as one of the most prevalent causes of illness in Bihar last year. According to the Economic Survey Report tabled in the assembly by deputy CM Samrat Choudhary on Friday, dog bites accounted for 2.44 lakh patients in 2023-24, making it the most common disease category, surpassing acute diarrhoeal disease and acute gastroenteritis.
Among the top five diseases in Bihar in 2023-24, dog bites alone accounted for 68.3% of total patients. While data for 2024-25 was available only until Sept, dog bites continued to dominate, accounting for 65.3% of cases. Acute diarrhoeal diseases, including acute gastroenteritis, were the second most common, affecting 7.2% of total patients, followed by typhoid at 6.8%. Bacillary dysentery and malaria ranked fourth, each contributing 6.3% of cases.
Acute respiratory illness or influenza-like illness accounted for 4.9% of cases in 2023-24.
Former superintendent of PMCH, Dr Rajiv Ranjan Prasad, said that the high number of dog bite cases did not necessarily mean all patients had rabies. "Many cases could simply involve injuries from dog bites. As for rabies, only one in 10 thousand bite victims is at risk and rabies is incurable," Dr Prasad said.
He also addressed the prevalence of diarrhoeal diseases, the second most common illness in the state, attributing them to multiple factors such as unsafe drinking water, food contamination and poor hand hygiene. He stressed the need to ensure access to clean drinking water and raise awareness about hygiene and food safety to reduce the burden of diseases.