The number of cases of syphilis continues to skyrocket in central New York. Onondaga County is reporting a more than 800% increase in the sexually transmitted disease from 2020 to 2025.
The statistic that troubles Onondaga County Health Commissioner Dr. Katie Anderson is the number of cases in newborns. There were seven babies born with congenital syphilis in 2025, which was never seen in central New York until a few years ago. Anderson said it’s an indictor of a systemic problem in the health care system.
"Where people aren't able to access the care that they need to, in the time that they need to, and in the context of all the other things that we know make life harder for some people in our community than others," said Anderson.
The are a number of problems with syphilis when compared to other sexually transmitted diseases. Syphilis typically starts with a sore or rash and then can go dormant for years, and there's no simple blood test to detect syphilis. The best way is through testing that's done over several years. On top of that, there is a nationwide shortage of antibiotics that can treat it.
Anderson says the Onondaga County Health Department is in the midst of plans to attack the health crisis.
"Incorporating STD testing services alongside our street outreach and harm reduction programming, so that when we're engaging with individuals who use drugs, or unhoused individuals," Anderson said. "We're also trying to bring clinical care and services to them, to try to lower those barriers to access, and hopefully diagnose and treat more cases than we would have otherwise."
Anderson said the county is also expanding partnerships with health care agencies to increase screening, and get the word out to health care professionals, that this is a significant health care issue.
"Trying to increase screening, for example, in emergency departments," she said. "Lower the threshold of testing for syphilis. And getting the word out that this is not a World War II era problem, that this is a 2026 very significant public health issue. So trying to make sure it's in the front of physicians' and other clinicians' brains."
