CHINESE JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY AND PARASITIC DISEASES ›› 2023, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (6): 669-676.doi: 10.12140/j.issn.1000-7423.2023.06.002

• ORIGINAL ARTICLES • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Epidemiological characteristics of visceral leishmaniasis in China in 2022

LI Yuanyuan1(), ZHOU Zhengbin1, YANG Limin1, LI Zhongqiu1, LIU Qin1, ZHANG Yi1,2,*(), LI Shizhu1,2   

  1. 1 National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Chinese Center for Tropical Diseases Research); National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases; Key Laboratory on Parasite and Vector Biology, Ministry of Health; WHO Centre for Tropical Diseases; National Center for International Research on Tropical Diseases, Ministry of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200025, China
    2 School of Global Health, Chinese Center for Tropical Diseases Research, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
  • Received:2023-11-16 Revised:2023-12-01 Online:2023-12-30 Published:2023-12-27
  • Contact: * E-mail: zhangyi@nipd.chinacdc.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Key Research and Development Program(2021YFC2300800);National Key Research and Development Program(2021YFC2300804);Shanghai Sailing Program(21YF1452200)

Abstract:

Objective To understand the epidemic situation of visceral leishmaniasis in China in 2022 and provide scientific basis for formulating prevention and control strategy. Methods Data of visceral leishmaniasis in 2022 was collected from the web-based National Infectious Diseases Reporting Information Management System. After excluding suspected cases, duplicates and cutaneous leishmaniasis cases, a visceral leishmaniasis database was established and underwent descriptive epidemiological analysis with Microsoft Excel 2016. Results A total of 239 cases of visceral leishmaniasis were reported in 104 counties of 11 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in 2022, among them 191 cases were reported from mountain-type zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis endemic areas, 4 cases from desert-type zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis endemic areas, 2 cases from anthroponotic visceral leishmaniasis endemic areas and 42 cases were imported from non-endemic areas. These cases were mainly distributed in Shanxi (110 cases), Shaanxi (34 cases), Henan (23 cases) and Hebei (23 cases), the total reported accounting for 79.30% (190/239) of the overall total in China. A total of 197 local transmitted cases were reported from 42 endemic counties and other 63 counties were of non-endemic areas, reporting 39 imported cases. Pingding County, outer suburbs of Yangquan City, Jingxing County and Huazhou District were the major endemic counties with 25, 15, 16 and 10 cases reported respectively, the total accounting for 27.62% (66/239) of the overall total cases in China. Recurrence endemic counties of visceral leishmaniasis were mainly concentrated in Shanxi (Qinshui County, Gaoping City, Fushan County, Houma City, Yicheng County, Jiangxian County, Yuanqu County, Wenshui County), Hebei (Mining district of Jingxing County, Zanhuang County, Lincheng County, Xindou District), Henan (Yanshi District, Shangjie District, Qibin District), Beijing (Changping District) and Xinjiang (2th regiment farm) in 2022, with a total of 23 local cases reported. The peak incidence occurred in July. The ratio of male to female cases was 1 ∶ 0.38. Farmers, infants and young children are the high-risk population of visceral leishmaniasis, accounted for 53.97% (129/239) and 16.74% (40/239) of the total cases respectively. The reported cases at age of ≥ 15 accounted for 81.17% (194/239). Conclusion Visceral leishmaniasis is at a low prevalence status in China, whereas the endemic area is gradually expanding, and the number of cases is gradually increasing in mountain-type zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis endemic area.

Key words: Visceral leishmaniasis, Epidemic status, Distribution, China

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