STORY: Injuries from animals hospitalized 23,000 Australians in 12 months: report
SHOOTING TIME: March 13, 2024
DATELINE: March 15, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:22
LOCATION: Canberra
CATEGORY: HEALTH

SHOTLIST:
1. various of venomous animals: snakes
2. various of dog attacking people
3. various of livestock: sheep, cows, hens

STORYLINE:

Over 20,000 Australians were hospitalized with injuries caused by animals in 2021-22 according to government data.
   
A report published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on Wednesday revealed that there were 23,380 injury hospitalizations related to animals in Australia in the 12 months to the end of June 2022.

Of the total hospitalizations, the report said that cats and dogs were responsible for 53 percent, livestock for 22 percent, wildlife and venomous animals for 21 percent and marine animals for 2.2 percent.
   
Out of every 100,000 people in Australia, 90.5 were hospitalized due to injuries caused by contact with animals in 2021-22 -- up from 66.5 per 100,000 in 2012-13.
   
Open wounds were the most common type of injury, accounting for 57 percent of hospitalized cases followed by fractures at 15 percent and toxic effects at 10 percent.
   
Among wildlife and venomous animals, reptiles caused the most hospitalizations followed by insects and arthropods and venomous snakes or lizards.
   
"Australia is home to some of the most venomous animals in the world, however, Australians are 6.6 times as likely to be hospitalized due to injury involving non-venomous compared to venomous animals," AIHW spokesperson Sarah Ahmed said in a media release.
   
Females were 1.2 times more likely than males to be hospitalized due to a common pet-related injury and twice as likely to be injured by livestock than males.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Canberra.
(XHTV)