Content of review 1, reviewed on December 28, 2014

GENERAL COMMENTS

Zhang et. al. apply exploratory spatial data analysis and empirical Bayes smoothing technique to examine spatial patterns of county- level incidence rates of human brucellosis in mainland china from 2004-2010. The manuscript reads well and presents the results in a clear and concise manner. However, the reviewer could not identify any advancement in the methodology or knowledge presented in the manuscript compared to previous reports.

Major concerns:

The author retrieved the dataset from the internet-based disease- reporting system of the China Information System for Disease Control and Prevention and applied statistical analysis techniques similar to previously published studies (References 14-17). The reviewer could not identify any advancement in the analytical methodology compared to previously published studies.

The same dataset analyzed in this manuscript and the main conclusion (high-risk cluster on counties) has been described in a previously published article cited by the authors (Reference 31). Although the authors discuss the differences between the two studies, the data presented and the overall conclusions are essentially the same.

Source

    © 2014 the Reviewer (source).

References

    Junhui, Z., Fei, Y., Tao, Z., Chao, Y., Xingyu, Z., Zijian, F., Xiaosong, L. 2014. Spatial analysis on human brucellosis incidence in mainland China: 2004-2010. BMJ Open.