Monroe County has five confirmed cases of hepatitis A, according to the Indiana Department of Health. This is the first time Monroe County has been included in weekly data the state health department has been providing on Indiana counties with confirmed hep A cases.

“The outbreak definition was changed, expanded, in late July, which added more counties to the list of affected counties,” Monroe County Health Administrator Penny Caudill said Monday afternoon in an email.

State data now lists counties with at least five reported cases, as is the case in Monroe County. The most recent data from Aug. 3 shows 13 counties with outbreak cases.

Indiana is one of several states dealing with a hepatitis A outbreak.

“Since November 2017, the Indiana State Department of Health has been investigating an outbreak of acute hepatitis A virus (HAV). Cases have been infected with HAV strains genetically linked to outbreaks across the United States,” according to the state health department website.

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