Oregon has one of the country’s highest rates of death due to Hepatitis C.
Only Oklahoma and the District of Columbia have higher rates, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2023 Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Report and the 2025 Viral Hepatitis National Progress Report.
CDC found that people who live in Oregon are 2.7 times more likely to die from Hepatitis C than people in other states.
It is the leading cause of preventable death from reportable disease in Oregon, according to the Oregon Health Authority.
Hepatitis C is a blood-born infection and can be transmitted from sharing needles or from sexual contact, and it can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy and childbirth.
It cannot be spread through casual contact.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.