Abstract: Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics of public health emergency in Foshan, Guangdong province, and provide evidence for the prevention and control of public health emergency. Methods Descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted on the incidence data of public health emergency in Foshan from 2005 to 2012. Results A total of 157 public health emergent events were reported, involving 3922 disease or poisoning cases and 5 deaths. The majority of the events were communicable disease epidemics, including varicella, influenza, hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD) and other respiratory diseases. The incidence peaks of the events were during March-June and September-December. Up to 77.07% of the events occurred in schools and child care settings. Conclusion It is necessary to strengthen the prevention and control of respiratory disease in school and child care settings during winter and spring, especially HFMD, and pay close attention to arthropod-borne communicable disease to effectively prevent public health emergency.