Open Outbreak

Should I be worried about Hepatitis A outbreak, Costa Rica?

Updated · Graded from official assessments; nothing here is medical advice.

Hepatitis A outbreak, Costa Rica · moderate

If you are in the affected area no assessment
No agency has published an assessment for people in San José province or elsewhere in Costa Rica. The official notice for Costa Rica listed below is CDC's Level 1 travel notice for travellers, dated 18 September 2026.
If you are elsewhere in the same country or region no assessment
No agency has published an assessment for people elsewhere in Costa Rica. The official notice for Costa Rica listed below is CDC's Level 1 travel notice for travellers, dated 18 September 2026.
If you are travelling there soon low
US CDC issued a Level 1 travel notice for Costa Rica on 18 September 2026, saying there is a hepatitis A outbreak in Costa Rica and that most cases have been reported in San José province. According to US CDC
If you are elsewhere in the world no assessment
No agency has published an assessment for people elsewhere in the world. The official notice for Costa Rica listed below is CDC's Level 1 travel notice for travellers, dated 18 September 2026.

What is happening

Costa Rica is monitoring a hepatitis A outbreak in 2026, with the clearest reporting placing most cases in San José province and smaller counts also reported in Cartago and Alajuela. The latest figures available here are media reports of 1,537 confirmed cases and 23 suspected cases, both unverified. Separately, a 21 September media report attributed 772 confirmed cases through epidemiological week 32 of 2026 to a Costa Rican Ministry of Health surveillance bulletin, including 562 in San José province, but that primary bulletin was not directly retrieved. A 29 September Costa Rican media report also repeated the Ministry figure of 772 confirmed cases. On 18 September, CDC posted a Level 1 travel notice saying there is a hepatitis A outbreak in Costa Rica and that most cases have been reported in San José province; no current WHO Disease Outbreak News item for this outbreak was found here.

Who is affected and how it spreads

Hepatitis A is an acute liver infection caused by hepatitis A virus. It spreads mainly by the fecal-oral route, including close personal contact, contaminated food or water, dirty hands, and some sexual contact. Risk is often higher for unvaccinated people in close-contact settings and for some groups in low-endemicity countries, including travellers to endemic areas, men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, and people with chronic liver disease. WHO says the infection is usually self-limiting and rarely fatal, and vaccines are available for prevention and outbreak control.

What officials advise

What we are watching

Updates

Sources