Summary of global surveillance data of infectious diseases in March 2020

In March 2020, a total of 58 infectious diseases were reported globally, affecting 201 countries and regions. Except for influenza, the top five infectious diseases affecting greatest number of countries and regions were novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (201), dengue fever (24), measles (13), poliomyelitis (7) and pertussis (7). The top four infectious diseases with highest case fatality rates were Ebola virus disease (65.7%), Middle East respiratory syndrome (34.2%), Lassa fever (19.5%) and COVID-19 (4.8%). The top five infectious diseases with greatest number of deaths were COVID-19, measles, dengue fever, Lassa fever and cholera. The prevalent infectious diseases in Asia were COVID-19, Middle East respiratory syndrome and dengue fever, the prevalent infectious diseases in Africa were COVID-19, Ebola virus disease, cholera, yellow fever, Lassa fever and measles, the prevalent infectious diseases in America were COVID-19 and dengue fever, the prevalent infectious diseases in Europe was COVID-19.