An outbreak of hepatitis A in Southern California raised concern among Colorado health officials after two homeless people who apparently contracted the disease in San Diego were treated here.
One of the cases was in El Paso County, the other was on the Western Slope, CDPHE spokeswoman Shannon Barbare said Monday.
California health officials believe that an epidemic that has infected more than 500 people statewide since March began in San Diego County, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/hepatitis-a-outbreak-among-homeless-a-byproduct-of-californias-housing-crunch/2017/10/25/e9038a62-acf9-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html?utm_term=.98bd71a65aa7" rel="nofollow - according to a report last week by The Washington Post . Nineteen people there have died from the disease, nearly all of them homeless.
In http://www.denverpost.com/2017/08/30/colorado-hepatitis-a-cases-spike/" rel="nofollow - Colorado, the number of hepatitis A cases reported in the general population more than doubled this year , and many were spread person-to-person among men who have sex with other men.
Hepatitis A is typically rare in the U.S. Last year there were only 23 cases of hepatitis A in Colorado.
As of Oct. 20, Colorado had 58 reported cases of hepatitis A, state epidemiologist Rachel Herlihy said. “Of these, two cases have occurred in people experiencing homelessness. Both these cases are linked to the ongoing outbreak in San Diego.”
Other states besides California have also experienced outbreaks of the disease, Herlihy said. “Ongoing outbreaks in other states are concerning to us and we are doing what we have to do” to protect Coloradans.