UPDATE: 10 confirmed cases of Hep A in Monterey Co. in 2017
UPDATE 1/2/2018 12:15 p.m.: According to the Monterey County Health Department, as of December 26, there has been ten confirmed cases of Hepatitis A in Monterey County.
According to Monterey County Health Officer Dr. Edward Moreno, eight patients are believed to be linked to the outbreaks in San Diego and Santa Cruz Counties. Of those, five have the same outbreak strains as those found in the other two counties.
Six of the individuals did not travel and so are assumed to have become ill due to transmission within Monterey County.
Health officials said the outbreak is being spread person-to-person and through contact with fecally-contaminated environments.
Find out more about Hepatitis A here.
ORIGINAL POST:
A large Hepatitis A outbreak continues to plague California, with more than 665 cases reported.
Most of the cases are in San Diego and Santa Cruz Counties however the Monterey County Health Department said their number of cases is increasing.
According to Dr. Moreno, so far in 2017, Monterey County has seen eight cases of Hepatitis A. Of those, five cases are considered linked to California’s outbreak. Dr. Moreno said the patients did not travel outside the area, they were exposed here, which means that represents local transmission.
Local transmission is concerning to the health department. Dr. Moreno said the county is not at “outbreak” levels yet. He said health officials are doing everything they can but as more cases are reported to them they may have to declare an outbreak.
More than 20 people have died from the Hepatitis A outbreak. Most are in San Diego County, but Santa Cruz County has reported its first death. County officials said the patient died in late September and Hepatitis was not the primary cause, that the patient had other health issues.
