CDC issues travel notice on hepatitis A outbreak in Manitoba

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a Level 1 travel health notice for Manitoba, Canada, in response to an ongoing hepatitis A outbreak that has led to expanded vaccination efforts and raised concerns for visitors to the prairie province.

Level 1 notice highlights growing hepatitis A activity

According to publicly available information from the U.S. agency’s Travelers’ Health pages, Manitoba is currently experiencing an outbreak of hepatitis A, a contagious liver infection caused by the hepatitis A virus. The event is categorized as a Level 1 notice, which advises travelers to practice usual precautions but underscores that transmission is occurring in the affected area.

The posting, updated in early June 2026, notes that hepatitis A spreads primarily through close person-to-person contact and consumption of food or drink contaminated with the virus. While the advisory level does not recommend that travelers avoid Manitoba, it places the province on the radar for health professionals who counsel people planning trips to Canada.

Level 1 notices are commonly used to flag outbreaks where standard measures such as vaccination, safe food and water practices, and good hand hygiene can substantially reduce risk. In the Manitoba context, the alert functions as a signal that travel planning should now routinely include a hepatitis A risk assessment.

Manitoba outbreak has been building over more than a year

Provincial health bulletins and disease summaries from Manitoba Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care describe a locally acquired outbreak that has unfolded over more than a year, initially noted in 2025 and continuing into 2026. Early activity was concentrated in remote northern communities, including the Island Lake region, before additional cases were identified in other parts of the province.

Updates released in early 2026 indicate that hundreds of outbreak-linked infections have been recorded, with health authorities repeatedly describing the situation as ongoing. Public documents aimed at health care providers outline a pattern of person-to-person spread, including within households and community settings, consistent with what is seen in other large hepatitis A clusters.

More recent communications from Manitoba’s public health program refer to expansions of vaccine eligibility tied to the outbreak, suggesting that the burden of disease has been substantial enough to prompt repeated adjustments to immunization strategy. These materials emphasize that cases continue to emerge, reinforcing the rationale for an international travel notice.

Vaccination urged for at-risk and unvaccinated travelers

Travel health guidance from both Canadian and U.S. public health sources consistently frames hepatitis A as a vaccine-preventable infection and identifies unvaccinated travelers as a key risk group. General prevention pages recommend that people planning international trips discuss immunization at least several weeks before departure, allowing time for the vaccine to take effect.

For the Manitoba outbreak, publicly available alerts from regional and provincial health agencies in Canada encourage immunization among residents of affected communities and among people who may have been exposed. A separate public health alert in neighboring northwestern Ontario highlights concern about cross-border movement and explicitly advises hepatitis A vaccination for individuals traveling to outbreak-affected Manitoba communities.

For U.S. travelers, the CDC notice effectively extends that message by recommending that visitors to Manitoba, particularly those who have never received hepatitis A vaccine or who are uncertain of their status, consider getting vaccinated. Standard travel medicine guidance gives special attention to people with chronic liver disease, older adults, and others at higher risk of severe outcomes, for whom prevention is especially important.

How hepatitis A spreads and what travelers can do

Hepatitis A typically spreads through the fecal-oral route, meaning the virus is transmitted when microscopic amounts of stool from an infected person enter another person’s mouth. Public health fact sheets from Manitoba and federal Canadian agencies describe common routes of exposure that include close household contact, sexual contact, and contaminated food or drinking water.

Symptoms often begin suddenly and may include fatigue, loss of appetite, fever, nausea, abdominal pain, dark urine, and jaundice. While most people recover fully, illness can be prolonged, and severe cases can lead to liver failure, especially in older adults or those with underlying liver conditions. Reports from Manitoba’s outbreak period include references to serious outcomes and deaths, reinforcing the importance of prevention.

Travel medicine advisories stress that vaccination is the most effective protective measure, but they also recommend careful attention to hygiene. Standard advice includes frequent handwashing with soap and water, particularly after using the bathroom and before eating, as well as caution with food and drinks in settings where sanitation may be suboptimal. Even in a high-income setting such as Manitoba, outbreaks can be driven by networks where crowded living conditions and limited access to facilities increase transmission risk.

Implications for travelers planning trips to Manitoba

The Level 1 notice means that travel to Manitoba is not being discouraged, but it does signal that hepatitis A should now be part of routine pre-trip planning. People with upcoming trips, including for tourism, business, or family visits, are being encouraged through public information channels to review their vaccination history and to speak with a health professional or travel clinic if they are unsure of their status.

Travel clinics in Canada and the United States typically offer hepatitis A vaccine as part of standard pre-travel care. The Manitoba outbreak and accompanying CDC notice may lead to increased demand among travelers who are transiting through Winnipeg, visiting northern communities, or combining Manitoba with other destinations where hepatitis A risk is also present.

Publicly available materials from Manitoba’s health authorities indicate that local vaccination campaigns and outbreak management efforts are ongoing. While those initiatives primarily target residents and close contacts of known cases, they also help reduce the overall level of virus circulation in the province, indirectly benefiting visitors.

With the summer travel season approaching, the combination of local outbreak reports and the U.S. Level 1 travel health notice is shaping Manitoba’s profile for international travelers. The situation illustrates how even regions with robust health systems can experience sizable hepatitis A outbreaks, and why vaccination and basic hygiene remain central pillars of safe travel planning.