Abstract: Objective: To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of new (relapsed) leprosy cases in Yantai from 2007 to 2017. Methods: The data of new (relapsed) leprosy cases in Yantai from 2007 to 2017 was collected through the Management?Information System. Results: There were 13 new cases including 6 patients (46.1%) with grade II?disability. Out of 9 relapsed cases, 8 had grade II?disability and there was no new disability. The average age at onset was 54.6 years old and the age ranged from 50 to 69 years old in most cases (77.27%). The average time of delay in diagnosis was?42 months among the new cases and 6.6 months among the relapsed，with a significant difference (P<0.05). Conclusion: There are few new cases detected each year in Yantai, but the disability rate is high and the time of delayed diagnosis is long. So early detection of the few new incident cases needs to be further strengthened.

Key words: leprosy, epidemiological characteristics, analysis