U.S. reports over 15,000 monkeypox cases in all 50 states

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The United States has confirmed over 15,000 monkeypox cases across all 50 states, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A total of 15,433 known monkeypox cases had been reported nationwide as of Monday, CDC data showed.

New York had the most cases, with 2,910, followed by California with 2,663 and Florida with 1,588, according to CDC data.

Since the first monkeypox case was announced in a Massachusetts patient in mid-May, the disease has reached all 50 U.S. states.

Wyoming became the final state to report a case of the disease on Monday.

The Wyoming Department of Health announced the case in an adult male in Laramie County, which includes the state capital city of Cheyenne.

So far the United States has the world's highest tally of monkeypox cases.

At least five pediatric cases have been reported and at least one case of a pregnant woman has been reported.

Over the last month, the daily number of reported cases increased exponentially from 97 per day one month ago to more than 1,300 per day as of Aug. 10, according to the federal health agency.

Over the last week, the United States saw the largest increase in monkeypox infections of any country, according to data from the World Health Organization.

Amid growing calls from health officials across the country, the Joe Biden administration declared the current monkeypox outbreak to be a public health emergency on Aug. 4.

The U.S. government has been facing criticism in its response to the monkeypox outbreak, including failure to order enough vaccines, speed treatments and make tests available to head off the outbreak.

According to a report of Politico, top U.S. health officials have known for years that the country's Strategic National Stockpile did not have enough doses of a smallpox vaccine that is now key to the monkeypox fight.

The United States never had the money to purchase the millions of doses that experts felt were necessary, said the report.

"Monkeypox posed much less challenge than COVID. The U.S. still failed to contain it," said a report of NBC News.

"After COVID, the repetition of these public health missteps does not augur well for the future," said the report.