Explore the recorded discovery and history of Hepatitis A virus, with source links and stated limits.
Hepatitis A virus inflames the liver. WHO describes spread mainly when someone swallows food or water contaminated with the faeces of an infected person, closely associated with unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene. Unlike hepatitis B and C it does not cause chronic liver disease, and almost everyone recovers fully with lifelong immunity.
CDC's Pink Book records that hepatitis A virus, a picornavirus, was first isolated in 1979. Descriptions of epidemic jaundice are generally attributed to Hippocrates, and hepatitis A was distinguished epidemiologically from hepatitis B in the 1940s.
WHO cites the 1988 epidemic in Shanghai, which affected about 300,000 people, as an example of how explosively food- or water-related hepatitis A outbreaks can erupt. An outbreak location is not the origin of the virus.
Hepatitis A vaccines were first licensed for use in the United States in 1995. Before that, prevention relied on hygiene measures and immune globulin.
Epidemic jaundice was described in antiquity and hepatitis A was separated from hepatitis B only in the 1940s, so no first human case can be identified. The 1979 isolation is a laboratory milestone, not a first infection.
Source check: 2026-09-19. Educational content; independent scientific review remains pending.