Climate change responsible for increase in animal bites
Stanford researchers warn that the number of animal bites is likely to rise amid climate change and developmental pressures.
Rising temperatures are already exposing people in temperate climates to more mosquitoes and ticks, and developmental sprawl is reducing the amount of land available exclusively to animals.
‘As available habitat for these animals increasingly overlaps with human development and recreational activities,’ the researchers wrote in a BMJ news release, ‘it is expected encounters with animals may increase and could result in increased animal-related injuries.’
Dr. Joseph Forrester, the lead researcher of a study published in the BMJ Journal of Trauma Surgery and and Acute Care added, ‘We’ve already seen that with tick populations and mosquito populations. We would anticipate over time more people in traditionally temperate climates will be exposed.’
If this prediction holds, it will add to the enormous health care costs that already exist. Currently, U.S. health care costs for animal-related injuries exceed $1 billion every year, according to the study.
