Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of scrub typhus in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture (Honghe Prefecture), Yunnan Province on the border of China and Vietnam, so as to provide a scientific basis for formulating scrub typhus control strategies in the future. Methods The information on cases of scrub typhus in Honghe Prefecture from 2013 to 2022 were collected from the China Information System for Disease Control and Prevention. The data were analyzed using descriptive epidemiological methods, the Chi-squared test, the rank sum test, and concentration distribution analysis. Results A total of 8 035 cases of scrub typhus were reported in Honghe Prefecture in the past 10 years, with an average annual incidence of 17.37/100 000, including 1 death. The reported incidence of scrub typhus showed an increasing trend over the years ( χ ² _trend=3 044.855, P<0.001). Yuanyang County reported the highest number of cases (1 888 cases, an incidence of 47.22/100 000), and Pingbian County reported the highest incidence (1 280 cases, an incidence of 82.53/100 000). The occurrence of scrub typhus had strong seasonality, with the peak period concentrated during June to September (5 854 cases, 72.86%). The cases of scrub typhus were mainly aged 30-<70 years (4 848 cases, 60.33%) and 0-<10 years (1 778 cases, 22.13%). The male-to-female ratio was 0.98:1. A majority of the cases were farmers among occupations (5 588 cases, 69.55%). The median time from disease onset to diagnosis was 10 days. The time from disease onset to diagnosis was statistically different between years ( H=102.812, P=0.001) and between the northern and southern regions (bounded by the Tropic of Cancer) ( H=1 087 686.000, P=0.025), with a shorter time interval in the southern region than in the northern region. The reported cases were mainly from general hospitals at the county (city) level or above, and 95.16% of them were clinically diagnosed cases. Conclusions The incidence of scrub typhus is on the rise in Honghe Prefecture, more frequent in children and middle-aged and elderly people in rural areas, with significant regional difference and significant seasonality with the peak in summer and autumn, and the time interval from onset to diagnosis is relatively long. It is necessary to strengthen scrub typhus surveillance and to reclassify it as a notifiable infectious disease to reduce the economic burden of the disease.