CDC Weekly Mortality Report shows that the number of people who die from dog bites has grown.
Reuland Law handles personal injury and wrongful death cases. Sometimes, those injuries and deaths are caused by vicious animals. Dog bites and dog attacks are a common example. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a statistical summary with a startling finding: The number of deaths resulting from dog attacks has been on the rise.
The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the CDC includes a QuickStats analysis of dog bites in the United States between 2011 and 2021. During the ten-year period between 2011 and 2021, deaths from being bitten or struck by a dog more than doubled. Interestingly, in the first half of that period, more men died than women from dog bites. The relationship reversed in the second half of the period. From 2017 through 2021, more women died than men. This is illustrated in the chart below from the CDC's website:
Dog attacks can cause a host of residual problems for victims. Scarring and infection can be common when someone is bitten by a dog in Illinois. Rabies is one such infection. Yet the statistics from the CDC did not include instances where someone gets rabies from a bite and rabies ultimately causes the death. In other words, the death toll is higher if one accounts for fatalities that trace back to a dog bite that gives someone rabies.
Statutes and various legal codes in Illinois set up a host of protections for people who are injured or killed. Attorney Tom Reuland has extensive experience representing dog bit victims in Illinois. His office can utilize the law to help people and their families make meaningful financial recoveries when a dog attack causes an injury. Initial consultations are always free and can be an informative first step to your recovery if you've been bitten in an animal attack.
You can learn more by contacting the law office of Tom Reuland and speaking with a dog bite attorney at Reuland Law, LLC. You can also learn more by reading the CDC's report. Here's the citation: QuickStats: Number of Deaths Resulting from Being Bitten or Struck by a Dog, by Sex — National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2011–2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:999. The CDC publishes a range of data about causes of mortality, which you can learn about here: National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, Mortality Data, 2011–2021. https://wonder.cdc.gov/Deaths-by-Underlying-Cause.html