The World Health Organization announced that it has recorded 650 possible cases of unknown source hepatitis among children in 33 countries since the beginning of April, resulting in 9 deaths. The organization indicated in a statement that between April 5 and May 26, it received reports of 650 potential cases of acute hepatitis in children from 33 countries across 5 regions of the world.
They added that "the cause of this acute hepatitis remains unknown and is under investigation." At least 38 cases required liver transplants from donors, and 9 children have died from the disease.
Regarding the distribution of cases by region, 374 were reported in Europe, with 34% of them occurring in the United Kingdom. The WHO also received 240 reports of possible cases from North and South America, 34 cases from the Western Pacific, 14 from Southeast Asia, and 5 cases from the Eastern Mediterranean.
