Objective   To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of rabies in China in 2020 and provide scientific evidence for the development of prevention and control policies in the next stage.

  Methods   The incidence data of rabies from National Notifiable Disease Reporting System (NNDRS) in 2020 and the national surveillance data were collected for a descriptive analysis.

  Results   A total of 202 cases of rabies cases were reported in 21 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) in 2020, and the incidence rate decreased by 30.34% compared with 2019. The rabies cases were mainly distributed in the central and southern China, the cases reported in 4 provinces with high case number, i.e. Hunan (59 cases), Henan (27 cases), Sichuan (20 cases) and Jiangsu (17 cases), accounted for 60.89% of the total cases in China. The incidence was highest in August, and lowest in April. The majority of rabies cases were farmers, and the male-to-female ratio of cases was 1.93∶1, and the majority of the cases were middle-aged and elderly. The data of 85 cases were collected for case analysis. The results showed that dogs were the main animals attacking human (97%), nearly 60% of the dogs were domestic dogs, including the self-raised and neighbor-raised, and most of them caused human injuries through active attack and bite. Up to 65% of the cases had grade Ⅲ exposure, the upper limbs was the main exposure site, and 66% of the wounds were untreated; Eight patients with grade Ⅲ exposure were vaccinated (5 of them were injected with passive immune agents), but they died before completing the whole course of vaccination; The incubation period of most cases was less than one year.

  Conclusion   The incidence of rabies continued to decrease significantly in 2020 based on the consecutive decline for 13 years, but the incidences in Hunan, Henan and other provinces were still higher, to which close attention needs to be paid. It is necessary to strengthen the management and immunization of dogs, especially rural dogs, and conduct the management of cats to maintain the achievements in the prevention and control of rabies.