Study finds farm animals are among the deadliest in the US

If asked to consider the most dangerous animal in America, a large predator might be the first to come to mind.

The United States is home to everything from grizzly bears and mountain lions to alligators and sharks that lurk just off the coasts – but, it turns out there are much greater risks hiding in plain sight.

While animal encounters account for hundreds of deaths in the country each year, new research has found that farm animals are often behind these fatalities.

Insect stings and dog attacks follow closely behind, far outnumbering the deaths resulting from predators in the wild.

In the study, researchers from Stanford University analyzed the mortality rates associated with both venomous and nonvenomous animals in the US from 2008-2015.

The work follows a previous investigation spanning a period from 1999-2007.

And, in the time since, they found mortality rates from animal encounters have not dropped.

‘From this search, we found that the rates of death from encounters with animals has remained relatively stable from the last time we performed this analysis,’ said lead researcher Jared a Forrester, MD, Department of Surgery, Stanford University.

‘Importantly, most deaths are not actually due to wild animals like mountain lions, wolves, bears, sharks, etc., but are a result of deadly encounters with farm animals, anaphylaxis from bees, wasps, or hornet stings, and dog attacks.

‘So, while it is important that people recreating in the wilderness know what to do when they encounter a potentially dangerous animal, the actual risk of death is quite low.’  

Venomous animal encounters were responsible for about 86 deaths each year, in an increase from the previous investigation.

The United States is home to everything from grizzly bears and mountain lions to alligators and sharks. But, while animal encounters account for hundreds of deaths in the country each year, new research has found that farm animals are often behind these fatalities

Most often to blame were stings from bees, wasps, and hornets.  

Of the 1,610 animal-related fatalities in the US from 2008-2015, the team found 57 percent were the result of encounters with nonvenomous animals.

The most common fell within the ‘other mammals’ category, which primarily includes horses and cattle, according to the researchers.

‘Preventing potentially fatal farm animal encounters should be a better promoted and supported public health initiative,’ explained Dr Forrester.

‘Farming remains an industry with a deficit of work-related injury reporting, and opportunities exist to improve safety measures and injury reporting on farms in the US.’ 

Venomous animal encounters were responsible for about 86 deaths each year, in an increase from the previous investigation. Most often to blame were stings from bees, wasps, and hornets. Dog attacks were the second most common type of non-venomous animal encounter

The researchers found dog attacks were the second most common type of non-venomous animal encounter, with the highest number of fatalities reported to be among children under the age of 4.

‘The burden of fatality upon young children after dog encounters remains troubling,’ said Forrester. ‘These are preventable deaths.’

According to the researchers, roughly 201 deaths each year are the result of animal encounters, and account for about $2 billion in healthcare spending.

But, the rates have remained relatively stable in the last two decades.

‘Unfortunately, deaths due to human-animal encounters did not decrease from our prior study,’ Dr Forrester said.

‘Animal-related deaths in “controllable” situations, such as on the farm or in the home, still account for the majority of the deaths.

‘Little in the way of public health policy in the farm workplace has changed since our previous paper.

‘Increased specificity in the coding of deaths due to animals in farm environments would help public health professionals target interventions.’