CHINESE JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY AND PARASITIC DISEASES >

2025 , Vol. 43 >Issue 6: 749 - 756

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12140/j.issn.1000-7423.2025.06.002

SPECIAL REPORTS

Epidemiological characteristics of visceral leishmaniasis in China in 2024

  • LI Yuanyuan ,
  • ZHOU Zhengbin ,
  • LI Zhongqiu ,
  • YANG Limin ,
  • LIU Qin ,
  • ZHANG Yi ,
  • CHEN Junhu ,
  • LI Shizhu
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  • 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 date: 2025-09-12

  Revised date: 2025-12-01

  Online published: 2025-12-26

Supported by

National Key Research and Development Program(2023YFA1801000);National Key Research and Development Program(2023YFA1801001)

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Abstract

Objective To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of visceral leishmaniasis in China in 2024， so as to provide insights into formulation of visceral leishmaniasis control measures and strategies. Methods Epidemiological data of visceral leishmaniasis cases in China in 2024 were collected from National Notifiable Diseases Reporting Information System operated by Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. After excluding suspected cases, duplicates and cutaneous leishmaniasis cases, all data were input into Microsoft Excel 2016, and the epidemiological characteristics of visceral leishmaniasis cases were analyzed using at descriptive epidemiological method. Results A total of 278 visceral leishmaniasis cases were reported in 120 counties across 14 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in China in 2024, with a decrease of 7.02% in relative to in 2023 (299 cases), and including 232 local cases reported in 77 endemic counties, and 46 imported cases in non­endemic counties. There were 225 cases with anthropozoonotic (mountain-type zoonotic) visceral leishmaniasis (80.93%), 5 cases with euzoonotic (desert-type zoonotic) visceral leishmaniasis, and 2 cases with anthroponotic visceral leishmaniasis, and these reported cases were predominantly distributed in three provinces of Shanxi (108 cases), Henan (53 cases) and Shaanxi (32 cases), accounting for 69.42% (193/278) of total cases in China. In 77 endemic counties, Pingding County (18 cases), Suburb District (11 cases) of Yangquan City in Shanxi Province, Linzhou City (13 cases) and Dengfeng City (11 cases) of Henan Province and Jingxing County (12 cases) of Hebei Province had relatively high counts of incident cases, accounting for 23.38% (65/278) of total cases in China. The counties with recurrent visceral leishmaniasis were mainly concentrated in Shanxi Province (Yuci District, Zuoquan County, Taigu District, Zezhou District, Wenxi county and Shangdang District), Henan Province (Shaanzhou District, Lushi County, Yindu District, Yiyang County and Ruzhou City), Hebei Province (Yuanshi County, Xiongxian County and Xiahuayuan District), Shaanxi Province (Chengcheng County and Mizhi County) and Beijing City (Fangshan District), with a total of 26 local cases reported. The incidence of visceral leishmaniasis peeked in August, and there were 191 male cases and 87 femles cases, respectively. The reported visceral leishmaniasis cases were found at ages of 45 to 74 years, and farmers were the predominant occupation (53.96%, 150/278). Conclusion The prevalence of visceral leishmaniasis is low in China; however, the endemic areas of mountain-type zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis is gradually expanding. Intensified surveillance and management of mountain-type zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis is recommended.

Key words： Visceral leishmaniasis; Epidemic status; Mountain-type zoonotic; Distribution; China

Cite this article

LI Yuanyuan , ZHOU Zhengbin , LI Zhongqiu , YANG Limin , LIU Qin , ZHANG Yi , CHEN Junhu , LI Shizhu . Epidemiological characteristics of visceral leishmaniasis in China in 2024[J]. CHINESE JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY AND PARASITIC DISEASES, 2025 , 43(6) : 749 -756 . DOI: 10.12140/j.issn.1000-7423.2025.06.002

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