CDC officially investigating unexplained hepatitis outbreak among U.S. children

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is officially undertaking an investigation into multiple severe hepatitis cases appearing in young children across the country, the agency said Friday.

The federal department had already warned Americans of the outbreak last month, advising doctors who “encounter pediatric patients with hepatitis of unknown etiology” to “consider adenovirus testing and to elicit reporting of such cases to state public health authorities and to CDC.”

In a media call on Friday, officials including CDC Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases Jay Butler said the agency was looking into cases in Illinois, Louisiana, California, Michigan and numerous other states.

Butler stressed that the risk to U.S. children remains minimal. 

“It’s important to remember that severe hepatitis in children is rare,” he said.