MDHHS awards $500,000 to 25 county health depts to help stop hepatitis A outbreak All local health depts have now received funding to combat disease

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 26, 2018

CONTACT: Lynn Sutfin, 517-241-2112 

LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) recently issued $500,000 in grants to 25 local health departments to help combat Michigan’s hepatitis A outbreak.

Local health departments were issued $20,000 each to increase vaccination outreach to high-risk populations and include:

Allegan County Health Department	Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services Department
Bay County Health Department	Kent County Health Department
Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department	Lenawee County Health Department
Berrien County Health Department	Luce-Mackinac-Alger-Schoolcraft District Health Department
Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency	Marquette County Health Department
Chippewa County Health Department	Midland County Health Department
Public Health Delta & Menominee	Public Health of Muskegon County
Dickinson-Iron District Health Department	Health Department of Northwest Michigan
District Health Department #2	Ottawa County Health Department
District Health Department #4	Tuscola County Health Department
Huron County Health Department	Van Buren-Cass District Health Department
Ionia County Health Department	Western Upper Peninsula Health Department
Jackson County Health Department

                    

Those with a history of injection and non-injection drug use, homelessness or transient housing, incarceration and men who have sex with men are thought to be at greater risk of contracting the disease.                   

“This has been the largest person-to-person hepatitis A outbreak in Michigan’s history, with more than 780 cases,” said Dr. Eden Wells, MDHHS chief medical executive. “Increasing vaccination outreach to high-risk populations across the state is essential to stopping the spread of hepatitis A in Michigan.”

The funding is part of a $7.1 million appropriation approved by the Legislature in late 2017 to address the hepatitis A outbreak. It can be used for staffing to conduct educational and vaccination outreach efforts. Twenty health departments that are part of the outbreak jurisdiction have already been awarded $2.5 million. This latest round of grants covers the remainder of the state’s local health departments. To be considered part of the outbreak jurisdiction a county must have two or more cases of hepatitis A related to the outbreak strain. The 25 health departments receiving this most recent round of funding are not currently part of the outbreak jurisdiction.

Hepatitis A is a serious, highly contagious liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). HAV is found in the feces (poop) of people with hepatitis A and spread by eating contaminated food or water, during sex or by living with an infected person.

Hepatitis A symptoms can include:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Belly pain
• Feeling tired
• Fever
• Loss of appetite
• Yellowing of the skin and eyes
• Dark urine
• Pale-colored feces (poop)
• Joint pain

Getting vaccinated, practicing good hand washing and avoiding sex with infected partners are ways to prevent getting infected. The hepatitis A vaccine is available at local pharmacies, through healthcare providers and at local health departments.

For more information about hepatitis A, including a calendar of vaccination clinics, visit Michigan.gov/hepatitisAoutbreak.

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