The New Mexico Department of Health in October extended its 2022 public health order to maintain aggressive statewide testing for syphilis.

The order, which will remain in effect for a year, directs medical professionals to continue syphilis testing for everyone aged 18 to 50 across New Mexico and test pregnant people during the first and third trimesters as well as at delivery.

As I reported in July, rates of the sexually transmitted infection in New Mexico were on the rise for years before falling in 2024. The reason for the increase remains tough to pin down, health experts said while I was reporting that story, though it’s consistent with nationwide and regional trends.

The public health order is specifically designed to prevent congenital syphilis, in which a pregnant person inf

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