In 1995, there were 12 thousand cases of syphilis in the US. In 2000, there were about 6,000 cases of primary and secondary syphilis reported, a 30 % drop since 1997. Also in 2000, 529 cases of congenital syphilis were reported. Nevertheless, the disease is rising in Europe, especially in the countries of the Russian Federation, where peaks of 263 cases per 100,000 have been reported.