Progress in researches on methods for risk assessment of infectious diseases

In recent years, with the strengthening of prevention and control of infectious diseases and frequent occurrence of emerging infectious disease, risk assessment has been widely used in the prevention and control of different kinds of infectious diseases, and has achieved significant results. The methods frequently used in risk assessment of infectious disease include expert consultation method, Delphi method, the analytic hierarchy process, and risk level matrix analysis. World Health Organization and some relevant institutes have developed several risk assessment tools for major infectious diseases such as influenza, poliomyelitis, and measles. Recently, mathematical or probabilistic models, and geographic information systems, and big data have also been used to assess the risk of infectious diseases. The study reviewed various methods for risk assessment of infectious disease and assessment tools to provide enlightenments for risk assessment of infectious diseases.