Sheboygan County is investigating a hepatitis A outbreak after five people were found to be infected
SHEBOYGAN - Sheboygan County Division of Public Health has found cases of hepatitis A in five people who live and work in Sheboygan County.
They have also found all contacts of the sick people and offered them the hepatitis A vaccine.
The agency advises all people at greater risk to "get vaccinated for hepatitis A, to monitor themselves for symptoms, and contact a health care provider right away if they become ill."
The Division of Public Health says those at greater risk for getting sick from hepatitis A include people who use drugs with or without needles, close contacts of infected people, people experiencing homelessness, international travelers, or people with pre-existing conditions like HIV or chronic liver disease.
Hepatitis A can spread when someone shares close personal contact, food, needles or fluids with an infected person, or eats or drinks something contaminated with an infected person's feces.
Symptoms usually appear about four weeks after being infected, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health, though the virus can incubate for two to seven weeks. Sickness can last for two weeks for mild cases, or more than six weeks for more severe cases.
According to the Department of Health, early signs and symptoms of hepatitis A include the following:
Fever
Tiredness
Loss of appetite
Nausea and/or vomiting
Stomach pain, or pain on the upper right side of the abdomen
Dark urine or gray stools
Joint pain
Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes)
More:Here's a Sheboygan voters' guide to the Feb. 21 Wisconsin primary
Contact Rebecca Loroff at 920-907-7801 or rloroff@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Hepatitis A outbreak reported in Sheboygan County; 5 people infected
