[Progress of schistosomiasis control in the People's Republic of China in 2025]

To understand the progress of, summarize experiences from, and analyze problems in the national schistosomiasis elimination programme, this article presented the national schistosomiasis epidemiology and surveillance in the People's Republic of China in 2025. By the end of 2025, Shanghai Municipality, Zhejiang Province, Fujian Province, Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region maintained the achievement of schistosomiasis elimination, and 7 provinces of Jiangsu, Sichuan, Yunnan, Hubei, Hunan, Anhui and Jiangxi remained at the criteria of schistosomiasis transmission interruption. In 2025, there were 450 counties (cities, districts), 3 203 townships and 26 029 villages endemic for schistosomiasis in China, with a total population of 73.598 million in endemic villages. Among the 450 endemic counties (cities, districts), 421 (93.56%) achieved the criteria of schistosomiasis elimination and 29 (6.44%) reached the criteria of transmission interruption. In 2025, a total of 3 630 874 residents received immunological tests for schistosomiasis across endemic areas in China, with 31 588 seropositives identified (seroprevalence, 0.87%), and a total of 154 293 individuals received parasitological examinations, with 5 egg-positives detected. A total of 26 688 advanced schistosomiasis cases were recorded in China by the end of 2025. Of 529 683 bovines raised in schistosomiasis-endemic villages in China in 2025, 101 637 bovines received immunological tests for schistosomiasis, with 183 seropositives detected (seroprevalence, 0.18%), and 165 654 bovines received parasitological examinations, with no egg-positives identified. In 2025, Oncomelania hupensis snail survey was performed covering an area of 667 524.82 hm² in China, and 176 378.64 hm² O. hupensis snail habitats were identified, including 123.77 hm² emerging O. hupensis snail habitats and 953.71 hm² re-emerging O. hupensis snail habitats. A total of 19 283 schistosomiasis cases received chemotherapy with praziquantel in China in 2025, and 477 450 person-times and 304 279 herd-times received expanded chemotherapy, respectively. In addition, O. hupensis snail control with chemical treatment covered 116 475.10 hm² snail habitats across China in 2025, with an actual area with chemical control covering 68 510.93 hm² and an area with environmental improvements covering 1 101.84 hm². The national schistosomiasis surveillance results indicated that the mean prevalence of Schistosoma japonicum infections was both 0 among humans and bovines in 2025, and no S. japonicum infection was detected in O. hupensis snails. These data showed that the prevalence of schistosomiasis remained low in China in 2025; however, the area of O. hupensis snail habitats stayed high, with an increase in emerging and reemerging O. hupensis snail habitats. It is recommended to improve the surveillance and forecast mechanism for schistosomiasis and precisely implement the O. hupensis snail control programme in high-risk areas.