Objective To understand the outbreak of healthcare-associated infection(HAI) in intensive care units (ICUs) at home and abroad, and provide basis for clinical targeted prevention and control of HAI outbreak. Methods Based on Worldwide Database for Nosocomial Outbreaks (Outbreak Database) and China National Knowle-dge Infrastructure (CNKI) database, data of HAI outbreak in ICUs were analyzed and compared. Results 1 091 cases of ICU HAI in Outbreak Database involved 68 countries and regions, 2000-2006 was the peak of publication of outbreak events, 590 cases (54.08%) of HAI outbreaks in ICUs were identified route, transmission through patients, environment, and contaminated medical device accounted for 37.46%, 22.88% and 15.09% respectively; 63.98% of the events identified the route of infection, transmission through contact, invasive manipulation, respiratory transmission and gastrointestinal intake accounted for 73.78%, 15.19%, 8.17%, and 2.86% respectively; pathogens of HAI were bacteria (83.68%), viruses (8.16%) and fungi (7.52%); control of outbreak cases mainly through taking corresponding measures according to the route of transmission and source of infection. Infection caused by invasive manipulation in China was higher than that in foreign countries (38.37% vs 15.17%). The main pathogens causing HAI outbreak in ICUs in China and abroad were Acinetobacter baumannii (32.56%) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (12.20%) respectively. Conclusion HAI outbreak has certain regularity, intervention measures should be formulated according to the characteristics of the outbreak to effectively prevent and control the outbreak of infection.