Viral Hepatitis and American Indians/Alaska Natives

Viral hepatitis is a disease of the liver caused by a virus. The liver is a large and important organ that helps clean the blood, store nutrients, process food, alcohol, and medicines, and make bile to help digest fats. When the liver is inflamed or damaged, it cannot work properly. Many people with viral hepatitis do not feel sick, even though the infection can range from mild to severe. Viral hepatitis is a serious public health problem in the United States and is a leading cause of liver cancer. The only way to know if you have viral hepatitis is to get tested.

The most common types of viral hepatitis are hepatitis A, B, and C. These viruses spread in different ways and can be passed on before someone knows they are infected. Hepatitis A spreads through close contact or contaminated food or drinks. Hepatitis B spreads through blood, semen, or other body fluids. Hepatitis C spreads through contact with infected blood. Vaccines can prevent hepatitis A and hepatitis B, and medications can cure hepatitis C.

In 2023, American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) people were 40% less likely to have had hepatitis A than the U.S. population overall.
In 2023, new cases of chronic hepatitis B were 66% lower among AI/AN people than in the U.S. population overall.
In 2023, AI/AN people had nearly three times more new cases of chronic hepatitis C, and were three times more likely to die from hepatitis C than the U.S. population overall.
In 2022, AI/AN people were nearly three times more likely to die from viral hepatitis compared with the U.S. population overall.

Additional Resources

MedlinePlus

Related Data

Further Reading

HHS OMH Knowledge Center Topic Guide: Viral Hepatitis

Occurrence

Hepatitis A

Reported cases of hepatitis A, rate per 100,000 population, 2023
AI/AN*	Total Population	Ratio (AI/AN* / Total)
0.3	0.5	0.60

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). Viral hepatitis surveillance report – United States, 2023 (Table 1.2). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Hepatitis B

Reported cases of acute hepatitis B, rate per 100,000 population, 2023
AI/AN*	Total Population	Ratio (AI/AN* / Total)
0.5	0.7	0.71

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). Viral hepatitis surveillance report – United States, 2023 (Table 2.2). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Newly reported cases of chronic hepatitis B, rate per 100,000 population, 2023
AI/AN*	Total Population	Ratio (AI/AN* / Total)
2.1	6.1	0.34

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). Viral hepatitis surveillance report – United States, 2023 (Table 2.6). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Hepatitis C

Reported cases of acute hepatitis C, rate per 100,000 population, 2023
AI/AN*	Total Population	Ratio (AI/AN* / Total)
3.5	1.5	2.33

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). Viral hepatitis surveillance report – United States, 2023 (Table 3.2). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Newly reported cases of chronic hepatitis C, rate per 100,000 population, 2023
AI/AN*	Total Population	Ratio (AI/AN* / Total)
99.4	36.2	2.75

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). Viral hepatitis surveillance report – United States, 2023 (Table 3.6). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Mortality

Viral Hepatitis

Deaths due to viral hepatitis, age-adjusted rates per 100,000 population, 2022
	AI/AN*	Total Population	Ratio (AI/AN* / Total)
Male	1.8	0.9	2.00
Female	2.0	0.5	4.00
Both Sexes	1.9	0.7	2.71

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. (2025). Deaths: Final data for 2022 (National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 74, No. 4. Table 11). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Hepatitis C

Deaths with hepatitis C listed as a cause of death, rate per 100,000 population, 2023
AI/AN*	Total Population	Ratio (AI/AN* / Total)
7.75	2.52	3.08

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). Viral hepatitis surveillance report – United States, 2023 (Table 3.8). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

*Population is non-Hispanic in the data source.

Date Last Reviewed: January 2026