Animal bites as an occupational hazard among animal control officers.

One hundred-and-two full-time animal control officers (ACOs) in New Mexico were surveyed to learn about animal bite risks in this little-studied occupational group. The overall bite rate was 2.57 per working-year (175-500 times population-based rate estimates). A "high risk" ACO subset (seven officers involved in 67 per cent of bite incidents) was discovered. Evaluation of animal bite data can contribute to prevention of occupational injuries among the estimated 10,000 full-time ACOs in this country.