United States: A communitywide hepatitis A outbreak emerged in Los Angeles County as the highly transmissible viral disease manifests into permanent liver damage, sometimes leading to death.
Health officials from the region acknowledge alarm about the current hepatitis A prevalence while witnessing shifts in who contracts the disease.
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A total of 165 cases reported in 2024 marked the most significant outbreak in at least the last decade and tripled the yearly number from 2023, according to officials.
Seven deaths were documented in the 13-month continued hepatitis A outbreak.
The limited outdoor toilet and handwashing facilities in LA County generally enabled homeless individuals to become the primary victims of hepatitis A infections, according to county health officials.
Public Health has declared a hepatitis A outbreak in LA County. The risk to the general public remains low, but we must focus on community-wide protection to stop this preventable disease. Vaccination and good hygiene are the best ways to prevent hepatitis A. Swipe to learn more pic.twitter.com/dQLa8cqq44
— LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) May 5, 2025
The current outbreak of hepatitis A cases has shifted toward non-homeless persons even though they lack the typical risk factors associated with this infection.
According to Dr. Muntu Davis, the LA County health officer, in a statement Monday, while urging people to get vaccinated against the disease, “The ongoing increase in hepatitis A cases signals that quick action is needed to protect public health,” latimes.com reported.
The current year has seen double the number of hepatitis A cases reported from January to March when compared to last year’s statistics. Reports have reached 29 cases this year.
An individual can become infected with the virus by unknowingly consuming food or drink that carries the highly transmissible virus after it appears in the infected person’s blood and stool.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health declared Monday a community-wide outbreak of hepatitis A, citing a sustained rise in cases and elevated virus levels in wastewater.https://t.co/s7qrntYDtl
— KNX News 97.1 FM (@knxnews) May 5, 2025
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identifies infection risks, which include using drugs with infected persons and having sexual contact or providing care to an infected individual.
LA County records probably underestimate the real extent of the disease because hepatitis A infection often remains undetected.
This current outbreak in LA County has surpassed the most severe hepatitis A outbreak from the past decade, which reached 87 confirmed cases in 2017, latimes.com reported.
“We definitely think that the outbreak is bigger than the numbers imply,” according to Dr. Sharon Balter, who is the director of the Division of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention in LA County.