Monkeypox cases in the U.S. have surpassed 20,700 – the most reported infections of any country.
States reporting the highest number of cases include California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and New York, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to a report from the CDC published last week, there are signs that the outbreak is slowing in the U.S. But because the “causes of cases slowing in [the] U.S. and other countries are not well understood and patterns have not been uniform, we cannot predict the timing and precise trajectory of case declines in the United States.”
New monkeypox cases worldwide decreased last week, according to a World Health Organization report updated on Wednesday. Reported infections decreased by 25% last week over the week prior.
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The 10 most affected countries are the U.S., Spain, Brazil, France, Germany, the U.K., Peru, Canada, the Netherlands and Colombia.
Reported cases in the Americas region also declined last week, but WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it’s hard to “draw firm conclusions about the epidemic in that region.”
“Some countries in the Americas continue to report increasing numbers of cases, and in some there is likely to be under-reporting due to stigma and discrimination, or a lack of information for those who need it most,” Tedros said at a press briefing on Wednesday. “But as I said earlier, a downward trend can be the most dangerous time, if it opens the door to complacency.”
WHO considers monkeypox to be a moderate global health risk. It declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern in July. Efforts at WHO are underway to rename monkeypox to align the disease name with “best practices.”
