Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics and spatial clustering of human brucellosis in Zhejiang province from 2018 to 2022, and provide evidence for the formulation of prevention and control strategies.

Methods The incidence data of human brucellosis in Zhejiang from 2018 to 2022 were collected from National Notifiable Infectious Disease Reporting System. Descriptive epidemiological method was used to describe the distributions of human brucellosis cases in Zhejiang. Global and local spatial autocorrelation analysis methods were used to analyze the incidence data of human brucellosis.

Results A total of 716 human brucellosis cases, including 528 cases in men and 188 cases in women, were reported in Zhejiang from 2018 to 2022. The male-female ratio of the cases was 2.81∶1. No fatal cases were reported. The cases mainly occurred from March to June with the incidence peak in spring and summer. Middle age and old people over 45 years old was the high-risk group with the cases accounting for 82.40% of the total. The cases were mainly farmers, accounting for 48.60%. The top three areas with high-incidences were Jiaxing, Huzhou and Hangzhou, the cases in these areas accounted for 46.79% of the total. The global spatial autocorrelation results showed that there was spatial clustering of human brucellosis cases in Zhejiang from 2018 to 2022. The Moran's I index of the reported incidence of human brucellosis in Zhejiang from 2018 to 2022 were 0.06, 0.25, 0.27, 0.20 and 0.33, respectively (P＜0.05). The results of local spatial autocorrelation showed that the “high-high” clustering were mainly in Jiaxing and Huzhou in northern Zhejiang, the areas with high incidences.

Conclusion The incidence of human brucellosis showed an increasing trend in Zhejiang from 2018 to 2022. The incidence of human brucellosis showed spatial clustering, and the incidence peaked in spring and summer. Serological surveillance, health education, and behavioral intervention should be carried out in populations with occupational exposure in areas with high incidences of human brucellosis.