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No deaths from hepatitis A outbreak in Maricopa County

Posted at 2:00 PM, Oct 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-09 17:00:12-04

Officials in metro Phoenix say a hepatitis A outbreak linked to 17 deaths in San Diego has been contained in Arizona.

The Arizona Republic reports that Arizona officials believe the local outbreak was mainly confined to homeless people in Maricopa County.

The county recorded only 15 known cases and no deaths.

Officials have detected no new Arizona cases since the end of May.

Officials believe the virus circulated due to crowding and poor hygiene among homeless people in Maricopa County.

In California, the illness has infected at least 568 people since November, mainly in San Diego, Santa Cruz and Los Angeles counties.

Public health officials say the Maricopa County outbreak was tied to one person who traveled from San Diego to Maricopa County earlier this year.

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Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com