Epidemiological characteristics of rabies in Hubei Province during 2004-2020
WANG Liming1,2, LIU Xinpeng1, TAI Wenbo1, SUN Qiang1, DING Shumao2
(1.Ezhou Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ezhou, Hubei 436099;2. School of Life Science, Central China Normal Normal University, Wuhan 430079)
Abstract:Epidemiological characterization of rabies incidence is an important theoretical basis for in-depth understanding of rabies transmission law and formulation of rabies prevention and control strategies. The incidence data of rabies in Hubei Province from 2004 to 2020 were obtained from the notifiable infectious disease reporting information management system. Descriptive epidemiological methods were used to analyze the changes of rabies epidemiological characteristics.From 2004 to 2020, 1467 cases and 1467 deaths were reported in Hubei Province, with an annual average incidence of 0.14 per 100 000 individuals. The number of reported rabies cases in the province fluctuated and decreased, and maintained a low level after 2013, with high incidence in summer and autumn. The male-to-female ratio in the rabies incidence population was 2.24∶1, with farmers as the main occupation, concentrated in the 50-70 age group. Among the 17 cities and states in Hubei Province, Jingzhou City had the highest number of cumulative cases (224 cases, 15.27%), followed by Yichang City (11.52%), Xiaogan City (9.88%) and Suizhou City (9.61%). The overall trend in each region was down year by year, with small fluctuations back up in a few years, such as in Jingzhou, where the number of cases nearly doubled in 2006 compared to 2005. However, individual cities such as Yichang and Suizhou showed a slight rebound. In the investigation of the source of cases, it was found that among the types of animals that injured people, dogs accounted for the largest proportion (97.34%), followed by cats (1.78%) and other animals (0.88%); class II and class III exposure accounted for 19.70% and 80.30%, respectively. Only 32.58% of wounds had been treated with post-exposure prophylaxis and 12.41% of the incidences had been fully inoculated with rabies vaccine. 83.50% of the incidences did not have full knowledge of rabies. Based on the above epidemiological characteristics, three strategies were proposed for further consolidate the results of rabies prevention and treatment, including strengthen the construction of rabies laboratory testing systems and early-warning monitoring, enhance health education efforts in rural areas and implementing canine immunization.