Objective To understand the current status of public reporting of epidemic sign of infectious disease in China, analyze the existing problems, and provide evidence and suggestions for improvement of the public reporting mechanism.

Methods Data were obtained from an online questionnaire survey of public reporting of epidemic sign of infectious disease conducted by Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention from January to March 2025 in centers for disease control and prevention (CDCs) at all levels in 31 provinces and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.. A descriptive analysis on survey results was performed.

Results A total of 3,259 CDCs were surveyed in this study, with a response rate of 95.04%. Public reporting of epidemic sign of infectious disease in China mainly depended on two types of platforms: internet-based one and telephone-based one, including seven major channels, i.e. government service application/mini-program, official WeChat account and official website of CDC, the 12345 hotline, the 12320 hotline, infectious disease consultation telephone line and duty telephone line of CDC in four types of management entities: government department, health administration, disease control and prevention administration and institution. Overall, telephone-based channels had higher geographic coverage rate and preparedness rate than internet-based channels. In the telephone-based channels, infectious disease consultation telephone line and duty telephone line of CDC had the highest geographic coverage rate and preparedness rate (both ≥81.00%). In the internet-based channels, official website of CDC had the lowest geographic coverage rate (26.66%) and preparedness (12.54%). In 2024, the average monthly proportion of public reporting of epidemic sign by telephone channels, including the 12320 hotline, infectious disease consultation telephone line and duty telephone line, was mainly 0.00%. In the CDCs with infectious disease consultation telephone lines, 92.69% used paper-based recording, and 10.49% planned to integrate these telephone lines into provincially coordinated surveillance and early-warning platforms.

Conclusion Diverse channels for public reporting of epidemic sign of infectious disease exist in China, with infectious disease consultation telephone line and duty telephone line of CDC as the core channels. However, the management of reporting channels remains inadequate, and geographic coverage and preparedness of the reporting of th channels need further improvement. The telephone-based channels of CDC play a limited role in infectious disease surveillance and early warning. The informatization and intelligent management of the infectious disease consultation telephone lines remain insufficient . It is necessary for CDCs to improve the public reporting channels for better public health surveillance.