Risk assessment of public health emergency and concerned infectious diseases in China, March 2014

Objective Assess the risk of public health emergency and concerned infectious diseases in China, November 2013. Methods Semi-structured interviews and discussions among subject matter experts based on surveillance data and public institute bulletins, et al. Results According to the surveillance data of infectious disease and public health emergency, the occurrence of public health emergency events in March will remain relatively low, and the events will mainly categorized as respiratory infectious disease, food poisoning and Non-occupational carbon monoxide poisoning. In the near future, the sporadic cases of human infection with H7N9 influenza virus will continue to appear, and a few cases of human infection with other avian influenza virus are probably being reported in the following month. The activity of flu is trending down in both northern and southern China, but precautions should be taken to prevent the outbreak in schools. Recently, north China has been suffering intensive and long-lasting hazy weather, and such bad weather is probably last a relatively long time. Endeavors that focus on surveillance, assessment and study the public health impact of hazy weather should be implemented. Conclusion It is expected that the national public health emergencies and epidemic situation of infectious diseases in March 2014 will remain relatively low. We need to strengthen surveillance and preparedness for human infection with avian influenza viruses, Flu, public health impact of hazy weather.