China infectious diseases for October 2025 – Outbreak News Today

Report on Notifiable Infectious Diseases in China and Implications for Sustainable Development Goal 3 (October 2025)

Executive Summary

In October 2025, the China National Center for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 1,191,646 cases of notifiable infectious diseases, resulting in 2,054 deaths. This data provides a critical measure of the nation’s public health status and directly informs progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3): Good Health and Well-being. The significant burden of communicable diseases, particularly those specified in SDG Target 3.3, underscores the ongoing challenges and the importance of robust surveillance systems as outlined in SDG Target 3.d.

Disease Classification Breakdown

Class A Infectious Diseases

• Total Cases: 3
• Total Deaths: 0
• Details: All three reported cases were cholera. The absence of fatalities is positive, but the presence of this water-borne disease highlights the continued need for vigilance in sanitation and hygiene, a core component of SDG 3.

Class B Infectious Diseases

• Total Cases: 263,784
• Total Deaths: 2,054
• The top five diseases accounted for 93.3% of all Class B cases and are central to monitoring progress against SDG Target 3.3 (End the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis… and combat hepatitis… and other communicable diseases).

1. Viral Hepatitis: 116,746 cases (247 deaths)
2. Syphilis: 50,354 cases (7 deaths)
3. Tuberculosis: 50,265 cases (240 deaths)
4. Novel Coronavirus Infection: 18,704 cases
5. Gonorrhea: 10,003 cases

• Mpox: 71 total cases (66 local, 5 imported)
• Human Rabies: 22 deaths, indicating a persistent challenge in disease control.
• Brucellosis: 3,298 cases
• Anthrax: 34 cases

Class C Infectious Diseases

• Total Cases: 927,859
• Total Deaths: 0
• The top three diseases accounted for 99.0% of all Class C cases, representing a significant public health burden that impacts overall well-being (SDG 3).

1. Influenza: 427,083 cases
2. Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease: 378,738 cases
3. Other Infectious Diarrheal Diseases: 112,656 cases

Alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being

Target 3.3: Ending Epidemics of Communicable Diseases

• The substantial number of reported cases of Tuberculosis (50,265) and Viral Hepatitis (116,746) directly illustrates the scale of the challenge in meeting the SDG target to end these epidemics by 2030.
• The 240 deaths from Tuberculosis and 247 deaths from Viral Hepatitis in a single month underscore the severity of these diseases and the urgent need for enhanced prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies to achieve SDG 3.

Target 3.d: Strengthening Health Risk Management

• This monthly surveillance report is a direct implementation of SDG Target 3.d, strengthening national capacity for early warning, risk reduction, and management of health risks.
• The detailed data on diseases like mpox, novel coronavirus, and influenza provides the evidence base required for targeted public health interventions, resource allocation, and preparedness, which are fundamental to building resilient health systems in line with SDG 3.

Analysis of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
  • The entire article is dedicated to public health, specifically the surveillance and reporting of notifiable infectious diseases in China. It provides data on the number of cases (morbidity) and deaths (mortality) from various communicable diseases, which is central to the goal of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

1. Target 3.3: By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases.
   • The article directly addresses this target by reporting on several of the diseases mentioned. It provides specific case and death counts for tuberculosis and viral hepatitis. It also covers water-borne diseases like cholera and other communicable diseases such as syphilis, novel coronavirus infection, gonorrhea, mpox, rabies, influenza, and hand-foot-mouth disease. The data presented is essential for tracking progress toward ending these epidemics.
2. Target 3.d: Strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks.
   • The article itself is a product of a national public health surveillance system. The fact that the China National Center for Disease Control and Prevention is systematically collecting, categorizing (Class A, B, C), and reporting data on infectious diseases demonstrates the country’s capacity for health risk management and early warning, which is the core of this target.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

1. Mortality and morbidity rates for communicable diseases.
   • The article provides the raw data needed to calculate these indicators. Specific examples include:
     • Number of tuberculosis cases: 50,265
     • Number of deaths from tuberculosis: 240
     • Number of viral hepatitis cases: 116,746
     • Number of deaths from viral hepatitis: 247
     • Number of cholera cases: 3
     • Number of deaths from rabies: 22
     • Total cases of notifiable infectious diseases: 1,191,646
     • Total deaths from notifiable infectious diseases: 2,054
2. National public health surveillance and reporting capacity.
   • The existence and content of the report from the China National Center for Disease Control and Prevention serve as an indicator of a functioning surveillance system. The detailed breakdown of diseases by class (A, B, C) and the specific counts for each disease imply a robust capacity for monitoring and reporting, which is a qualitative indicator of the country’s ability to manage health risks as per Target 3.d.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Table

Source: outbreaknewstoday.substack.com