Objective   To understand the performance of the early warning system of infectious diseases in Jiangxi province from 2005 to 2019 and analyze the change characteristics of the automatic early warning information, and provide basis for further optimizing the early warning system and improving the efficiency of automatic early warning and monitoring of infectious diseases in Jiangxi.

  Methods   Microsoft Excel 2010 was used to collect and classify the automatic early warning information data of infectious diseases in Jiangxi from 2015 to 2019, and SPSS 22.0 was used to statistically evaluate the application of early warning system and the quality of information reporting.

  Results   From 2015 to 2019, a total of 43 697 early warning signals were released in Jiangxi. The proportion of suspected event reached peak during September-December, and the proportion of positive early warning signals reached peaks in September and December. The proportions of suspected event, positive early warning signals and proportion of public health emergencies were 7.41%, 0.78% and 40.46% respectively, Compared with 2008–2014, there were significant increases and there were significant differences in the proportion of suspected events (χ²=3 140.745, P<0.001), the proportion of positive early warning signals (χ²=305.895, P<0.001) and the proportion of public health emergencies (χ²=18.585, P<0.001); The top five diseases with the positive early warning signals were human infection with Streptococcus suis, human infection with avian influenza (H7N9) virus, dengue fever, cholera and unexplained pneumonia; The timely response rate of early warning signal and field investigation rate were 98.34% and 82.25% respectively, which increased significantly compared with 2008–2014. There were significant differences in the timely response rate of early warning signal (χ²=21 680.642, P<0.001) and field investigation rate (χ²=109.642, P<0.001).

  Conclusion   The performance of automatic early warning information system of infectious diseases in Jiangxi is well, the early warning efficiency has been improved obviously, resulting in timely response. However, the overall proportions of positive early warning signal and early warning of public health emergency are still at low levels, suggesting that the early warning system of infectious disease needs to be further optimized.