After being on the verge of elimination in 2000 in the United States, syphilis cases have rebounded. Rates of primary and secondary syphilis continued to increase overall during 2005–2013; although rates stabilized during 2009–2010, rates have increased since 2011. Increases have occurred primarily among men, and particularly among MSM (men who have sex with men), who contributed the vast majority of male primary and secondary syphilis cases during 2009–2012. In 2012, primary and secondary syphilis cases in the 35 reporting areas that reported the sex of sex partners, male cases comprised 83.7% (13,113) of all nationwide cases. In those areas, the proportion of male primary and secondary syphilis cases attributed to MSM increased from 77.0% (6,366) in 2009 to 83.9% (8,701) in 2012. In 2013, based on data reported as of April 28, 2014, the rate of reported primary and secondary syphilis in the United States was 5.3 cases per 100,000 population, more than double the lowest-ever rate of 2.1 in 2000.
Author’s note: In other words, over 83% of all syphilis cases in the US were in men; of those men, over 83% got the disease through gay sex; therefore 67.6% of all US syphilis cases are in gay men; horrifying - as gay men, at the most, comprise 4% of the US population.
Link to CDC report: