Hepatitis A Outbreak Associated with Cuba - Florida, June 2024-February 2026.

Beginning in early 2025, Florida Department of Health (FDOH) staff members noted an unusually high proportion of reported hepatitis A cases among travelers who had recently been in Cuba. Hepatitis A outbreaks have been reported in Cuban local news media; however, government reports are limited. FDOH investigated to characterize hepatitis A cases associated with travel to Cuba among Florida residents (including four patients who had recently emigrated from Cuba). FDOH found that among 249 confirmed hepatitis A cases identified during June 2024-February 2026, 76 (31%) patients reported recent travel to Cuba before symptom onset. Among patients with Cuba travel-associated hepatitis A, the median age was 39 years, 70% were male, 87% were White, and 92% were Hispanic or Latino. Patients lived in 13 (19%) of Florida's 67 counties. Among 29 patients who completed supplemental travel questionnaires, 55% had visited Havana; other travel destinations included eight additional Cuban provinces. Hepatitis A virus (HAV) genotyping of 18 isolates from unique patients with outbreak-associated cases identified 15 (83%) isolates that matched HAV genotype IA outbreak strain 1, two (11%) that matched IB strain 1, and one (6%) that matched IA strain 2. These findings are consistent with what would be expected were widespread hepatitis A transmission affecting multiple regions of Cuba. CDC recommends hepatitis A vaccination or receipt of immune globulin before travel to Cuba. Providers' consideration of hepatitis A among patients returning from Cuba who have hepatitis A-compatible signs and symptoms, together with elicitation of a detailed travel history, might aid diagnosis of Cuba travel-associated cases.