Internet-based real-time report quality and diagnosis of human brucellosis in China, 2004-2012

Objective To evaluate the quality of Internet-based real-time report quality and diagnosis of human brucellosis in China from 2004 to 2012. Methods The analysis was conducted on the annual reporting data of brucellosis collected from national disease reporting information system from 2004 to 2012. Results A total of 244 369 reporting cards of human brucellosis were reported during this period with an average increase rate of 16.68%. The mis-classification rate of the cards was 0.03%, the cards with logical errors accounted for 0.02%. The timeliness of the reporting was 94.76% and the timely verifying rate was 100%. Among the reported cases, 89.81% were laboratory confirmed. The median interval between onset and diagnosis was 21 days, and non-local medical care-seeking rate was 38.00%. Up to 99.62% of the cases were reported in northern China, but the cases reported in southern China increased with year. Compared with northern region, the cases reported in southern region had higher mis-classification rate, longer interval between onset and diagnosis and higher non-local medical care-seeking rate. Conclusion The overall reporting quality of human brucellosis was high in China, while the timeliness of diagnosis need to be improved. Regional differences in reporting quality and diagnosis existed between northern and southern regions. Current case classification and onset date statistical methods should be improved to meet the actual situation.