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By The Numbers: Hepatitis A Hotspots

Hepatitis A sign
Julio Ochoa
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Hepatitis A is spreading in Florida, and the state during the past two months has started taking aggressive steps to abate the virus, including issuing a public health emergency and spending $3 million to hire part-time staff to assist at county health departments.

The Florida Department of Health releases weekly data about reported cases, and The News Service of Florida has kept a running tally since July. Here is an analysis tracking the 10 counties with the largest increases in cases during the most-recent 10 week-period that ended Saturday. The analysis also shows the percentage increases in those counties during the period:

Volusia: 62 cases, 36 percent

Brevard: 46 cases, 74 percent

Pinellas: 40 cases, 12 percent

Citrus: 38 cases, 152 percent

Manatee: 38 cases: 46 percent

Lee: 37 cases, 97 percent

Pasco: 37 cases, 10 percent

Lake: 31 cases, 34 percent

Sarasota: 31 cases, 100 percent

Hillsborough: 26 cases, 23 percent

Note: As of Saturday, Pasco County had the most reported hepatitis A cases this year, with 392. It was followed by Pinellas County, with 363 cases, and Volusia County with 236 cases, according to a Department of Health report.