STOCKHOLM (AP) — European health officials said on Tuesday that they have found no link among the cases of a mysterious outbreak of hepatitis in several children.
To date, 190 cases of hepatitis of unknown origin have been reported, 140 of them in Europe.
“There is currently no connection among the cases and no travel association,” said Andrea Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in Stockholm.
She said the illness is appearing in previously healthy children, with cases reported across the European continent, in Israel and in the United States.
Ammon said that some cases have progressed to acute liver failure that has required a liver transplant.
On Saturday, the World Health Organization said that at least one death has been reported in connection with the outbreak. The UN health agency said the cases have been reported in children aged between 1 month and 16 years. The WHO did not say in which country the death occurred.
Experts say the cases may be linked to a virus commonly associated with colds, but the investigation continues.
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