Abstract
Imported infectious diseases are becoming a serious public health threat in China. However, limited information concerning the epidemiologic characteristics of imported infectious diseases is available. In this study, we collected data related to imported infectious diseases in mainland China from the National Information Reporting System of Infectious Diseases and analyzed demographic, temporal, and spatial distributions. The number of types of imported infectious diseases reported increased from 2 in 2005 to 11 in 2016. A total of 31,740 cases of infectious disease were imported to mainland China during 2005–2016; most of them were found in Yunnan Province. The cases were imported mainly from Africa and Asia. As a key and effective measure, pretravel education should be strengthened for all migrant workers and tourists in China, and border screening, cross-border international cooperation, and early warning should be further improved.
Highlights
Imported infectious diseases are becoming a serious public health threat in China
These included 27,497 cases of malaria, 3,351 cases of dengue fever, 773 cases of influenza A(H1N1), 24 cases of Zika virus disease, 18 cases of chikungunya fever, 11 cases of yellow fever, 2 cases of acute flaccid paralysis caused by poliomyelitis, 1 case of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and 65 cases of other infectious diseases (Table 1)
Imported P. falciparum malaria is a major obstacle to achieving malaria elimination in China [12,13,14]
Summary
Imported infectious diseases are becoming a serious public health threat in China. limited information concerning the epidemiologic characteristics of imported infectious diseases is available. A total of 31,740 cases of infectious disease were imported to mainland China during 2005–2016; most of them were found in Yunnan Province. An. lesteri, An. minimus, and An. dirus mosquitoes are considered to be 4 major malaria vectors in China. As a main vector of transmitting malaria, An. sinensis mosquitoes are present in all provinces and regions except Qinghai and Xinjiang; An. lesteri mosquitoes are found in areas south of 34°N latitude, An. minimus mosquitoes in mountainous and hilly areas south of 33°N latitude, and An. dirus mosquitoes mainly in the tropical jungles of Hainan. This study describes the epidemiologic characteristics of imported infectious disease cases during 2005–2016 in mainland China. It provides scientific information for prevention and control in the future
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