Hepatitis A outbreak is over, Clark County officials say
After a year, the hepatitis A outbreak in Clark County is over, the Southern Nevada Health District announced Friday.
Last year, Nevada became one of more than 30 states to deal with an outbreak of hepatitis A since 2016.
Over the course of the outbreak, there were 107 cases, 94 hospitalizations and one death.
Through contact tracing, the health district determined the first case associated with the outbreak in Clark County developed symptoms in November 2018.
The outbreak in Clark County, declared in July 2019, was associated with person-to-person transmission of the virus, primarily among people who use drugs, people experiencing homelessness, and people with a history of recent incarceration.
In August 2019, health officials said that of the reported cases, more than 92 percent involved people who used illegal drugs, and more than 80 percent were in people experiencing homelessness.
In response to the outbreak, the health district partnered with nonprofits to administer hepatitis A vaccinations.
More than 7,000 hepatitis A vaccinations were administered to adults and providers in the community.
The health district’s vaccination efforts focused on high-risk individuals, including people living in homeless encampments and shelters and people being treated for substance use disorder.
Information on the outbreak and response is available on the district’s website, www.snhd.info/hep-a-control.
Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE on Twitter.