Duval County reported Florida’s highest number of hepatitis A cases in 2020, according to the News Service of Florida.
Duval reported 209 cases of the contagious liver disease last year. St. Johns was also in the top 5 counties, with 46 cases. Clay and Nassau counties reported 32 and 22 cases respectively.
Statewide, Florida reported 1,009 cases of the virus. Florida was hit with a major outbreak of hepatitis A in 2019, with 3,405 cases reported statewide. That compared to 548 cases in 2018 and 276 cases in 2017.
Neither the Florida Department of Health or the Duval County health department responded immediately to a request for comment. If responses are received, this story will be updated.
Hepatitis A is a highly contagious virus that is spread through exposure to fecal matter or sharing drugs with others.
Contact Sydney Boles at sboles@wjct.org, or on Twitter at @sydneyboles.
