Epidemiological characteristics of human brucellosis in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, 2007−2022

Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics and changing trends of human brucellosis inHonghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture (Honghe prefecture) of Yunnan province from 2007 to 2022 and provide scientific basis for formulating reasonable prevention and control strategies.

Methods The incidence data of human brucellosis in Honghe from 2007 to 2022 were collected from China Disease Prevention and Control Information System. Software Excel 2019 was used for data process. Software ArcGIS 10.7 was used to visualize case spatial distribution. The differences in incidence rate of brucellosis among different years, gender groups were compared by χ² test. Wilcoxon tests were used to compare the time intervals between onset and diagnosis among cases in different age, gender, occupation groups, and in different years. SPSS 25.0 was used to calculate the test statistics and P-values.

Results A total of 695 cases of human brucellosis were reported in Honghe from 2007 to 2022. The incidence rate ranged from 0.02/100 000 to 2.67/100 000, and the average incidence rate was 0.95/100 000. The differences in annual incidence rate were significant (χ²=625.033, P<0.001). In addition, the incidence of brucellosis had seasonality, with incidence peak period from March to September. The incidence in age group 20−59 years was higher. More cases occurred in men than in women (χ²=88.491, P<0.001). Farmers were mostly affected. The cases were mainly distributed in Luxi, Mile and Jianshui. The median interval between the onset and diagnosis was 9 days. The differences in interval time among different years were significant χ²(H)=62.338, P<0.001 .

Conclusion The incidence of human brucellosis in Honghe showed a significant upward trend in the past 16 years. It is necessary to take effective prevention and control strategy, strengthen health education and medical staff training, improve case management, execute strict livestock quarantine and conduct active health monitoring in key populations and timely and standardized response to brucellosis epidemic for the prevention and control of human brucellosis .