Objective: To understand the malaria epidemic situation and characteristics in Jiangsu Province in 2013, so as to provide the evidence for formulating and adjusting effective malaria elimination strategies and measures.
Methods: The reported malaria cases from the Internet Reporting System and the epidemiological data of malaria in Jiangsu Province were collected and analyzed.
Results: A total of 341 malaria cases were reported in Jiangsu Province in 2013 with the incidence of 0.050/10 000, which increased by 72.22% compared with that in 2012 (198 cases). All the cases were imported from other countries including one infected by blood transfusion resulted from imported infection. The cases were mainly distributed in Lianyungang City (15.84%, 54 cases), Nantong City (14.08%, 48 cases), Yangzhou City (14.08%, 48 cases), Huaian City (11.44%, 39 cases) and Yancheng City (8.50%, 29 cases). All the cases were confirmed in Jiangsu Provincial Reference Laboratory and there were 286 cases of Plasmodium falciparum, 8 cases of P. vivax, 9 cases of P. malariae, 30 cases of P. ovale and 8 cases of mixed infections.
Conclusions: There were no local malaria cases reported from Jiangsu Province in the last two years which reflected effective achievements of malaria elimination. However, the situation of imported malaria is more serious and the species of infected plasmodium are more diverse. Imported malaria from other countries remains the key of malaria control in Jiangsu Province.