El Centro, California - The County Public Health Department is investigating a suspected case of Hepatitis A case reported recently in Imperial County.

The individual is currently undergoing treatment at a local facility. Health Department officials said the individual is middle-aged and homeless and had previously lived in downtown San Diego before arriving in Imperial County last week. San Diego has experienced an outbreak of Hepatitis A, a liver infection caused by a highly contagious virus , and have reported at least 16 deaths and more than 420 cases detected and nearly 300 people being hospitalized. Imperial County public health staff have begun vaccinating those that were in close contact with the individual to prevent the spread of the virus in the county. As a prevention effort , public health staff had started offering the Hepatitis  A vaccine to the homeless last month.

courtesy of http://kxoradio.com