Objective To investigate the current situation of public place health surveillance capacity of centers for disease control and prevention (CDCs) at all levels in Jiangsu Province, China, 2023, and to analyze the existing problems and causes.

Methods In June 2023, the current situation of public place health surveillance capacity of all city- and county-level CDCs in Jiangsu Province was investigated using a questionnaire survey regarding personnel allocation, indicator detection ability, and metrological certification pass rate. The CDCs at different levels and regions were compared and analyzed.

Results The survey covered 13 cities with districts and 95 counties (county-level cities and districts). A total of 111 questionnaires were recovered from CDCs, including 13 from city-level CDCs and 98 from county-level CDCs. The survey covered the status of the workforce and laboratory testing capacity for 31 indicators in 5 categories. In terms of personnel allocation, the environmental health posts in city-level CDCs were mainly full-time, and these posts in county-level CDCs were mainly part-time. Of the 31 testing indicators, the overall metrology certification pass rate was 86.1% (347/403) for the 13 CDCs at the city level and 51.2% (1 555/3 038) for the 98 CDCs at the county level. In terms of having the ability to detect and monitor through metrological certification, the certification pass rate was higher for CDCs at the city level compared with the CDCs at the county level. There were significant differences between CDCs at different levels in 8 indicators of indoor air such as PM_2.5, 2 indicators of public goods such as pH, and 5 indicators of swimming pool water, foot pool water, and bath water such as turbidity (the range of χ² values from 3.87 to 42.05, P < 0.05). Among the 31 indicators determined by CDCs in different regions, there were significant differences in ammonia in indoor air and Legionella pneumophila in central air conditioning cooling water and bath water (χ² were 8.81 and 6.39, P < 0.05). The overall assessment of surveillance capacity showed that the public place surveillance capacity of CDCs at the city level was generally higher than CDCs at the county level, and the surveillance capacity was higher in CDCs in central Jiangsu than in those in southern and northern Jiangsu.

Conclusion According to the comprehensive assessment of surveillance capacity, the public place surveillance capacity of county-level CDCs in Jiangsu Province was generally low. The personnel allocation and health surveillance capacity of city-level CDCs were higher than those of county-level CDCs. There were differences in personnel allocation and health surveillance capacity of CDCs in different regions. The CDCs in northern Jiangsu were dominated by young staff, and the surveillance capacity of CDCs in central Jiangsu was higher than that of CDCs in southern and northern Jiangsu.