Abstract:
Objective To assess the risk of public health emergencies that may occur or be imported from abroad in China (except Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions and Taiwan region, the same below) in April 2025.
Methods Based on the reports of domestic and foreign public health emergencies and surveillance results of key infectious diseases or notifications from relative agencies and departments, the expert consultation conference was hold and experts from provincial (autonomous region and municipal) centers for disease control and prevention attended this conference through video terminal.
Results It is predicted that the incidence of public health emergencies in April 2025 would be higher than that in March 2025. The main public health emergencies would be infectious diseases. At present, the positive detection rates of respiratory pathogens such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and respiratory syncytial virus have slightly increased compared with the previous period, but the overall epidemic situation of acute respiratory infectious disease is still at a relatively low level. The number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases has increased compared with the previous period, monitoring of variant strains shows that there is no significant change in the recent prevalent strains. It is expected that the number of COVID-19 cases will rise in April 2025, and its peak level may not exceed the peak in the summer of 2024. The number of reported measles cases nationwide has been on the rise since the autumn of 2024, and it is expected that the incidence level in April will be close to that in March, 2025. It is in the early stage of the epidemic season of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) currently, and it is predicted that the cases will increase since April. The risk of human infection with avian influenza has not changed compared with previous levels. At present, the mpox in China is spreading at a low level, and there is also a continuous risk of imported cases leading to local transmission. China is about to enter the active season of mosquito vectors, and it is necessary to be vigilant against the risk of secondary transmission caused by imported cases of Zika virus disease.
Conclusion Attention should be paid to acute respiratory infectious diseases, COVID-19, measles, HFMD, human infection with avian influenza, mpox, Zika virus diseases.