Surveillance for hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in China, 2014

Objective To understand the incidence of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in China. Methods Descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted by using the surveillance data of HFRS in China in 2014 collected from national notifiable disease reporting system and 40 HFRS surveillance sentinels in China. Results A total of 11 522 HFRS cases, including 79 deaths, were reported, the incidence was 0.85/lakh, a slight decrease of 10.05% compared with 2013. The case fatality rate was 0.69%. The cases mainly occurred in northern and northeastern China as well as Shaanxi province. The cases were mainly reported in 10 provinces, i.e. Heilongjiang, Shandong, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Hebei, Jilin, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Fujian, accounting for 82.54% of the national total. The incidence was high in spring and during autumn-winter, and the peak occurred in November. The case number reported in males was 2.75 times higher than that reported in females. The cases were mainly young and middle aged adults. The cases in farmers accounted for highest proportion (68.84%). A total of 1069 HFRS cases were reported by 40 HFRS sentinels, accounting for 9.28% of national total, but it decreased by 8.24% compared with 2013. The density of animal hosts decreased, while the hantavirus carriage rate of animal hosts increased slightly compared with in 2013. Apodemus agrarius was the predominant species in open field, and Rattus norvegicus was the predominant one in residential area. Conclusion The surveillance quality of HFRS in 2014 was similar to that in recent years. The overall incidence of HFRS in China showed a slight decrease. The density and/or the hantavirus carriage rate of animal hosts in some areas remained to be at high level, suggesting that the risk of HFRS outbreak still exists. In these areas, the prevention and control should not be neglected, it is necessary to develop targeted prevention and control strategy, continue vaccination and deratization projects to control HFRS effectively