San Diego hepatitis A outbreak ends after 2 years

SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego County health authorities say an outbreak of hepatitis A that began two years ago has ended.

Public health officer Dr. Wilma Wooten tells the San Diego Union-Tribune that Oct. 25 marked 100 days since the most recent case, the threshold for no longer meeting the definition of an outbreak.

The contagion killed 20 people and sickened nearly 600.

Health authorities detected the infectious disease in February 2017 and investigators backtracked the first likely case to the week of Nov. 22, 2016.

The outbreak led to a focus on unsanitary living conditions among the region’s homeless population.

City and county governments promoted vaccination, washed streets, installed portable toilets and hand-washing stations, and put up temporary shelters capable of housing hundreds at a time.

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Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune, http://www.utsandiego.com