Welcome to Gothamist’s monkeypox statistics page!
- New York City’s health department is identifying between 60 and 70 new cases each day. Authorities say there are likely many more cases that haven’t been caught by testing.
- New York State continues to lead the nation in monkeypox cases, with almost 2,300 cases reported by August 12th. The vast majority of those cases have been found in New York City, overwhelmingly in LGBTQ+ New Yorkers.
- These charts will be expanded and improved as additional city, state and federal data becomes available.
In May of this year, New York City identified its first case of monkeypox, an infectious disease caused by the virus of the same name. Two months later, the region has become the epicenter of monkeypox in the United States, prompting city officials to declare the outbreak a public health emergency.
During this episode, the city has weathered vaccine shortages, technical hiccups with health websites and alleged retribution in the health department as it adds yet another public health threat to its already overloaded plate. Because the current outbreak has mainly affected LGBTQ+ New Yorkers, it’s exposing preexisting gaps in the health care system that often serves this community. The virus may also be reshaping the definition of a sexually transmitted infection.
The good news is that city, state and federal governments have all started sharing some form of monkeypox data. We’ll compile the most useful datasets here to help you keep track of the outbreak and stay safe.
The charts, tables and maps on this page refresh with the latest data daily or weekly. We update the article’s text about once a week. The last text update happened on August 16th.
Want different metrics on this page? Please send any questions or comments to SciHealthData@wnyc.org.
New York City has prioritized communities currently at higher risk for the virus in its rollout of the JYNNEOS vaccine for monkeypox, which is in extremely short supply.
The eligible people must meet all of the following criteria:
- Gay, bisexual, or other man who has sex with men, and/or transgender, gender-nonconforming, or nonbinary
- Age 18 or older
- Have had multiple or anonymous sex partners in the last 14 days
Alternatively, they must be a close contact of a known monkeypox case.
Anyone can get monkeypox, but the current outbreak has overwhelmingly affected gay and bisexual men. The city has also recorded a handful of cases among transgender and nonbinary New Yorkers.
People in these communities are less likely than other New Yorkers to have a regular primary care provider, making it harder for them to get tested and treated for monkeypox.
Right now, New York has the most monkeypox cases of any state in the U.S., but California, Florida and other populous states are also contending with outbreaks. Every state except Wyoming has reported at least one positive test result.