FOI REF: FOI-2023-1483
You asked
Total number of deaths registered as being caused by cow/livestock/farm animal attack between 2010 and 2023.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We produce statistics for deaths which occur in England and Wales, using the information provided during the registration of a death. Cause of death is coded using version 10 of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).
From all of these causes, an underlying cause of death is selected using ICD-10 coding rules. The underlying cause of death is defined by World Health Organisation (WHO) as:
- the disease or injury that initiated the train of events directly leading to death
or
- the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury
The cause of death is usually more specific to the circumstances of the death rather than where it occurred or the potential influence of natural factors such as farm animals being in the vicinity of the deceased. We do not have a specific ICD-10 code for farm animal attacks, however if a death occurred due to exposure of animate force by another mammal (such as cows or farm animals), we would use ICD-10 code W55 Bitten or struck by other mammals.
The interactive webservice NOMIS will provide deaths in England and Wales where W55 is the underlying cause of death, however we cannot ascertain what mammals were involved.
If you wish to extract this information, please see the following instructions:
Select Query data.
Select Mortality data.
Select period – 2013 to 2021
Select the geography (England and Wales, regional or by local authority).
Select Age – All ages or 5-year age bands.
Select Sex – Total or Male/Female
Select rates – All deaths, rates or percentage of population for example.
Select cause of death (ICD10 code search is available). Type W55
Select format (Excel or CSV for example)
2022 data will be available in NOMIS in October/November 2023.
For more historic data, this is available in our 21st Century Mortality Dataset.
If you would like data where ICD-10 code W55 is a contributory mention, for example the deceased had the underlying cause of death as myocardial infarction but it perhaps involved a farm animal, we can take a look at this for you as a bespoke request.
Special extracts and tabulations of mortality data for England and Wales are available to order and would be subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs (if appropriate) under the ONS Charging policy.
Such enquiries should be made to: Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.