Washington, Aug 31 (IANS): The number of people infected with monkeypox in the US has crossed 18,000, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A total of 18,101 positive cases have been confirmed so far, dpa news agency quoted the CDC as saying in its latest update on Tuesday.

A total of 2,916 new confirmed cases were reported in the country in the last seven days.

Although the numbers are still on the rise nationally, the speed of the outbreak is apparently slowing down, the CDC says.

With 3,291 cases, California is the worst-affected state, followed by New York (3,197) and Florida (1,870).

Since the first case of the infectious viral disease was confirmed in the US on May 18, cases spread across more than 60 jurisdictions in the country.

The US has the world's highest number of monkeypox cases.

On August 4, the CDC declared monkeypox a public health emergency.

Later, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had announced the Emergency Use Authorization of the JYNNEOS vaccine to be administered intradermally in individuals 18 years of age and older.

The White House National Monkeypox Response team announced a series of actions to further accelerate the administration's response to the outbreak and mitigate the spread of the virus.

The LGBTQI+ community, especially men who have sex with men, is said to be most at risk of contracting the virus.