New data published in the Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that 99 percent of monkeypox cases in the U.S. are male, and 94 percent report recent male-to-male sexual activity or intimate contact.
The study's scholars say these epidemiological details should guide treatment and vaccine regimens. These features were collected from cases of the virus reported in the United States from 17 May to 22 July. The current findings suggest that community transmission of monkeypox is widespread and that the impact is particularly severe on lesbian, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men; This is consistent with the data reported by other countries.
Black and Hispanic men are disproportionately represented in cases, with 54% of monkeypox cases occurring in this population. Forty-one percent of cases are white males.
Cases among black men in the United States also showed an upward trend, with the percentage of cases among blacks increasing from 12 percent (29 of 248 people) from May 17 to July 2 to 31 percent (247 of 806 people) from July 3 to 22, and the percentage of Hispanics from 33 percent (82,248) to 27 percent (214 of 806 people) and from 49 percent (121 of 248 people) to 38 percent (307 out of 806 people) among whites.
As seen in other countries, 41% of monkeypox cases in the United States are also HIV-positive.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there are 408 more monkeypox cases today, bringing the total to 7,510. New York had the highest number of cases, at 1862, followed by California (826) and Florida (633).