Los Angeles County Officials Declare Hepatitis A Outbreak

The New York Times (5/9, Baumgaertner Nunn) reports Los Angeles County health officials “have declared an outbreak of hepatitis A, a highly contagious liver infection driven by a virus that can, in rare cases, cause severe illness.” While the county typically sees fewer than 50 cases per year, there were at least 138 people infected in 2024 “and cases have remained unusually high so far in 2025. Officials say that levels of the virus in local wastewater suggest these figures are an undercount.”