Objective: To understand the malaria epidemic situation and characteristics in Shandong Province in 2014, so as to provide evidences for taking targeted strategies and measures for malaria elimination.
Methods: The data of malaria epidemic and malaria cases of Shandong Province in 2014 were collected from Information Management System for Infectious Diseases Report and Information Management System for Parasitic Diseases Control and Prevention. The epidemiological characteristics of malaria situation and the diagnosis and treatment of malaria cases were analyzed by Microsoft Excel 2007.
Results: A total of 150 malaria cases were reported in Shandong Province in 2014, which increased by 14.50% compared with that in 2013 (131 cases). All the cases were imported from other countries except one imported from Yunnan Province in China, and most of the imported cases were from Africa (142 cases, 95.30%). All the cases were confirmed in Shandong Provincial Reference Laboratory and there were 121 cases (80.67%) infected with Plasmodium falciparum, 16 cases (10.67%) infected with P. vivax, 9 cases (6.00%) infected with P. ovale and 4 cases (2.67%) infected with P. malariae. The cases were mainly distributed in Tai'an (40 cases, 26.67%), Yantai (17 cases, 11.33%), Weihai (13 cases, 8.67%), Jining (11 cases, 7.33%) and Heze (11 cases, 7.33%) cities.
Conclusions: There have been no local malaria cases reported in Shandong Province in the continuous 3 years. However, the reported number of imported malaria cases shows an increasing trend in the province in recent years, and the species of infected Plasmodium are diverse. Imported malaria from other countries is the key of malaria control in Shandong Province at present.