[Reading Science] Not Just COVID-19... China Tops Global Infectious Disease Rankings

WHO Announces Statistical Results from the Past 23 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Even before the COVID-19 virus, there were infectious diseases with strong transmissibility and toxicity. These include influenza, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and Ebola. Recently, a study revealing where these infectious severe diseases occurred most frequently worldwide has been published. China, where COVID-19 was first reported, ranked first, followed by Saudi Arabia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) published this research in the nonprofit international academic journal PLOS Global Public Health on the 25th.

The research team analyzed 2,789 outbreak cases collected from WHO's Disease Outbreak News (DON) statistics over approximately 23 years from 1996 to 2019 and reached these conclusions. By disease type, influenza was the most common infectious disease with 776 outbreaks during this period. It was followed by MERS with 316 cases and Ebola with 308 cases. Cholera occurred 278 times, yellow fever 162 times, meningococcal infections 123 times, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) 118 times, poliomyelitis 105 times, dengue fever 58 times, and Marburg fever 52 times, among others.

By country, China was overwhelmingly first with 262 cases, making it the country most afflicted by infectious diseases. Among these, 218 were influenza cases. Saudi Arabia followed with 189 cases (179 MERS cases), and the Democratic Republic of the Congo ranked third with 171 cases (105 Ebola cases). Indonesia had 146 cases (123 influenza), Egypt 115 cases (112 influenza), Uganda 83 cases (57 Ebola), Vietnam 81 cases (77 influenza), Liberia 74 cases (49 Ebola), Nigeria 69 cases, and Guinea 68 cases.

Scientists are paying close attention to the distribution study results of these infectious diseases. They analyze that this diversity arises from differences in individual countries' surveillance and response capabilities for diseases designated as priority and watchlist diseases. The state of each country's public health system is also a key variable. Countries with better surveillance and response capabilities may report more cases. For example, Egypt experienced as many as 115 outbreaks of infectious diseases during the period, but neighboring Libya reported none. Libya's public health system has nearly collapsed after two civil wars.

Mark Smolinski, chairman of the nonprofit organization Ending Pandemics, said in the international academic journal Nature, "This study provides verified information on large-scale infectious disease outbreaks and will be a useful tool for recording the history of epidemics." He added, "It is important to enhance transparent reporting systems so that epidemic occurrence information can be identified and addressed more quickly worldwide."