ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — SAINT LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — New cases of Hepatitis A have surfaced in St. Lucie County, as health officials continue to urge people to get vaccinated.
According to the Florida Department of Health, there are now seven confirmed cases of the contagious liver disease in Saint Lucie County this year.
An eighth person has tested positive in the county, but that person is from Lake County and will be transferred there.
St. Lucie County has been designated as "high risk" of an outbreak, meaning there have been at least five cases within 50 days.
“We know that it is rampant in the high risk population, so what we are doing in Saint Lucie and Martin and every other county I’m in Florida is finding these high risk populations and vaccinating and trying to stop the spread of the virus,” said Clint Sperber, Saint Lucie County Health Department.
Saint Lucie County is now at ‘high-risk’ for #HepatitisA with 7 confirmed cases. The health department is still investigating a cause of the outbreak in both Saint Lucie and Martin Counties. Best prevention...get vaccinated and wash your hands. @WPTV pic.twitter.com/kTnoN63axu
— Ryan Hughes (@HughesWPTV) May 7, 2019
Here are the confirmed cases in other local counties:
- Palm Beach County: 10
- Martin County: 19
- Indian River County: 0
- Okeechobee County: 1
- Broward: 9
- Miami-Dade: 14
The Department of Health said the best way to prevent hepatitis A is to get vaccinated. The vaccine is available at many medical offices, pharmacies, as well as county health departments.
RELATED:
The Florida Department of Health in St. Lucie County is offering free hepatitis A vaccines to uninsured or underinsured adults.
For more information, call 772-462-3800 or click here.
Last month, health officials said the source of the outbreak is still unknown, and could take weeks to uncover.