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Contact Info
Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention and Control Division
651-201-5414
IDEPC Comment Form

Contact Info

Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention and Control Division
651-201-5414
IDEPC Comment Form

Syphilis Outbreak Response and Case Counts

Minnesota is currently experiencing a syphilis outbreak in the Duluth area. Case counts specific to each outbreak can be found below. Minnesota syphilis case counts by county shows the incidence of new syphilis cases compared to previous years.

Partners can use or adapt these resources and tools for syphilis outbreak prevention and response in Minnesota.

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Newly diagnosed syphilis case counts by county

The table below has three columns representing the current year and two comparison years. The 2022 column shows new syphilis diagnoses reported to MDH by the year to date shown (YTD). The 2019, 2020, and 2021 columns show total cases of syphilis for each calendar year. 2021 data is now available. For the most recent complete year of data available, review Minnesota's STD Statistics.

As of Feb. 16, 2023:

MN County Syphilis Diagnoses 2019 Syphilis Diagnoses 2020 Syphilis Diagnoses
 2021*
Syphilis Diagnoses 2022**
Aitkin 2 2 0 3
Anoka 40 42 48 84
Becker 11 13 12 18
Beltrami 91 90 64 47
Benton 11 3 4 6
Big Stone 0 1 0 0
Blue Earth 9 17 7 12
Brown 0 0 2 0
Carlton 3 3 8 12
Carver 3 8 9 2
Cass 35 16 26 23
Chippewa 0 0 0 0
Chisago 1 3 2 8
Clay 8 12 7 9
Clearwater 7 4 4 2
Cook 0 0 0 0
Cottonwood 2 0 0 4
Crow Wing 5 3 9 7
Dakota 57 46 52 79
Dodge 0 0 0 2
Douglas 0 0 4 1
Faribault 1 2 3 2
Fillmore 0 1 0 0
Freeborn 0 3 2 0
Goodhue 3 5 2 6
Grant 1 0 0 0
Hennepin 504 488 648 846
Houston 1 0 0 0
Hubbard 1 3 5 3
Isanti 1 1 9 6
Itasca 5 10 9 14
Jackson 0 0 1 1
Kanabec 0 1 1 1
Kandiyohi 2 1 3 14
Kittson 0 0 0 1
Koochiching 1 0 1 1
Lac Qui Parle 0 0 0 1
Lake 0 1 1 4
Lake of the Woods 0 0 0 1
Le Sueur 4 1 3 4
Lincoln 0 0 2 0
Lyon 1 0 1 2
Mahnomen 2 6 10 9
Marshall 2 2 0 1
Martin 1 1 3 4
McLeod 3 2 9 6
Meeker 2 1 0 1
Mille Lacs 5 4 3 7
Morrison 0 1 4 2
Mower 5 4 4 7
Murray 0 0 0 0
Nicollet 3 1 1 1
Nobles 6 1 3 3
Norman 0 0 1 0
Olmsted 16 10 19 18
Otter Tail 4 6 6 5
Pennington 5 0 0 3
Pine 3 2 4 9
Pipestone 0 1 1 0
Polk 2 2 1 5
Pope 2 1 0 1
Ramsey 143 137 224 266
Red Lake 0 4 0 0
Redwood 0 1 1 3
Renville 1 2 1 5
Rice 4 2 11 5
Rock 1 0 0 1
Roseau 0 1 5 0
Scott 17 19 28 34
Sherburne 4 8 17 9
Sibley 2 2 3 2
St. Louis 12 28 60 75
Stearns 12 22 29 67
Steele 2 0 5 3
Stevens 0 0 1 1
Swift 0 0 0 0
Todd 0 3 6 4
Traverse 0 0 0 1
Wabasha 0 0 0 2
Wadena 0 1 1 0
Waseca 4 1 9 12
Washington 18 23 21 35
Watonwan 0 0 0 2
Wilkin 0 1 0 3
Winona 1 2 3 3
Wright 12 6 4 18
Yellow Medicine 1 0 0 0
Total 1,105 1,088 1,447 1,859

*2021 data is now available. For the most recent complete year of data available, review Minnesota's STD Statistics.
**Cases reported to MDH as of Feb. 16, which includes cases from Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2022 (YTD). By county table does not include congenital syphilis cases.

Congenital syphilis cases

Minnesota congenital syphilis (CS) cases* 2019-2022.

  CS Diagnoses 2019 CS Diagnoses 2020 CS Diagnoses 2021** CS Diagnoses 2022***
Total congenital cases 21 7 14 19

*Congenital syphilis (CS) is a disease that occurs when a mother with syphilis passes the infection on to her baby during pregnancy. For more information about the CS case defining criteria, visit CDC: Syphilis (Treponema pallidum) Case Definitions.

**2021 data is now available. For the most recent complete year of data available, review Minnesota's STD Statistics.

***Cases reported to MDH from Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2022 (YTD).

Duluth area syphilis outbreak data

An outbreak has been declared among any reported primary, secondary, early latent, and congenital syphilis cases. These cases were diagnosed after September 1, 2019 residing in the Duluth area* at time of diagnosis or reported cases of syphilis that is epidemiologically linked to cases that are part of the outbreak.

*Duluth area is the 30-mile radius around the city of Duluth.

As of March 21, 2023
Data are preliminary and may change as reports are received.

Affected county Counts
Carlton 12
Lake 5
Saint Louis 112
Provider action steps

Action steps for providers include:

  • Screen patients for factors that increase the risk of getting syphilis or HIV including people diagnosed with HCV infection.
  • Review the signs and symptoms of syphilis, as it can be mistaken for other diseases. Learn more at About Syphilis.
  • Test people in the outbreak area at high risk for syphilis, including sexual partners of known cases, and those with multiple or anonymous partners.
  • Treat all cases of syphilis right away according to the CDC's 2021 Sexually Transmitted Infections Treatment Guidelines.
  • Gather as much information to contact and locate partners as possible.
  • Report all cases of syphilis to MDH by faxing the Minnesota Confidential Syphilis Report Form to 1-800-298-3775.
  • Subscribe to HIV/STD Prevention & Data Updates.
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Last Updated: 03/22/2023

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