Cluster of Hepatitis A Cases Linked To Maine's Remote Swan's Island Claims At Least One Life
Swan's Island is a 30-minute ride on the Captain Henry Lee, a 17-car ferry out of Bass Harbor, Maine. When you arrive after Labor Day, there are only about 350 people on the 7,000 acre island.
Now one has died and at least five others are ill --all from Hepatitis A. The six victims and four other suspected cases all stayed in the same Swan's Island house, although apparently not all at the same time.
The fatality was a woman over age 50 who died after returning home. Other victims range in age from 13 to 69. One person remains in the hospital.
During the summer, visitors to Swan's Island increases the population to as many as 1,000. The Hepatitis A outbreak claimed victims from the Midwest and Middle Atlantic States who were apparently summer visitors.
The Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Dr. Dora Anne Mills says the source of the Hepatitis A is unclear. The house involved did have a septic system problem and nearby clam flats were closed down as a precaution.
Hepatitis A is spread through unsanitary conditions through saliva or fecal contamination. It is not common in Maine as the state averages only about 11 cases each year. No longer residents are involved in the current outbreak. Swan's Island is on the coast near Bar Harbor.
One correction - One update: The fatality didn't return home. She was transported from Maine to Boston and died at the Lahey Clinic. The other hospitalized victims have been released. Two vacationers brought hepatitis A to the home. The virus spread to subsequent vacationers through the drinking water.