Abstract
BackgroundCross-border malaria transmission poses a challenge for countries to achieve and maintain malaria elimination. Because of a dramatic increase of cross-border population movement between China and 14 neighbouring countries, the malaria epidemic risk in China’s land border regions needs to be understood.MethodsIn this study, individual case-based epidemiological data on malaria in the 136 counties of China with international land borders, from 2011 to 2014, were extracted from the National Infectious Disease Information System. The Plasmodium species, seasonality, spatiotemporal distribution and changing features of imported and indigenous cases were analysed using descriptive spatial and temporal methods.ResultsA total of 1948 malaria cases were reported, with 1406 (72.2%) imported cases and 542 (27.8%) indigenous cases. Plasmodium vivax is the predominant species, with 1536 malaria cases occurrence (78.9%), following by Plasmodium falciparum (361 cases, 18.5%), and the others (51 cases, 2.6%). The magnitude and geographic distribution of malaria in land border counties shrunk sharply during the elimination period. Imported malaria cases were with a peak of 546 cases in 2011, decreasing yearly in the following years. The number of counties with imported cases decreased from 28 counties in 2011 to 26 counties in 2014. Indigenous malaria cases presented a markedly decreasing trend, with 319 indigenous cases in 2011 reducing to only 33 indigenous cases in 2014. The number of counties with indigenous cases reduced from 26 counties in 2011 to 10 counties in 2014. However, several bordering counties of Yunnan province adjacent to Myanmar reported indigenous malaria cases in the four consecutive years from 2011 to 2014.ConclusionsThe scale and extent of malaria occurrence in the international land border counties of China decreased dramatically during the elimination period. However, several high-risk counties, especially along the China–Myanmar border, still face a persistent risk of malaria introduction and transmission. The study emphasizes the importance and urgency of cross-border cooperation between neighbouring countries to jointly face malaria threats to elimination goals.
Highlights
Cross-border malaria transmission poses a challenge for countries to achieve and maintain malaria elimination
Overall epidemic features From 2011 to 2014, a total of 1948 malaria cases were reported in 45/136 counties of China sharing international land borders, consisting of 1536 (78.9%) cases of P. vivax malaria, 361 (18.5%) cases of P. falciparum malaria and 51 (2.6%) other cases, including five (0.25%) cases of Plasmodium malariae malaria, three (0.15%) mixed infections and 43 (2.2%) untyped cases
This study found that the magnitude and geographic distribution of malaria in the international land border counties of China decreased dramatically since the initiation of the malaria elimination programme in 2010
Summary
Cross-border malaria transmission poses a challenge for countries to achieve and maintain malaria elimination. In 2015, the WHO set the ambitious new target of reducing the global malaria burden by 90% by 2030, and it encouraged member states to fulfill the goal of malaria elimination [5]. Many countries face challenges in achieving the elimination goal because of the threat of malaria importation and re-introduction [6], especially in border areas adjacent to high malaria endemic countries. In South Korea, for example, there had been no indigenous malaria cases after 1984, until the re-emergence of P. vivax in the demilitarized zone showed that malaria transmission along the border of North Korea would continue to be a challenge [7]
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