UK health officials said the global outbreak in cases may be as a result of pandemic measures which prevented children in their formative years being exposed to common infections.
Officials probing the outbreak in Britain said a lack of exposure to common infections during their formative years may have left more children than usual vulnerable to the deadly liver disease.
All the children are under ten years old and one has required a liver transplant, the state s health department said. If they are confirmed, they will bring the U.S. total for hepatitis to 14.
North Carolina has spotted two cases among school-age children, alongside the nine that were detected among under-6s in Alabama since October. Doctors say it may be Covid linked.
EXCLUSIVE: Professor Simon Taylor-Robinson, a hepatologist at Imperial College London, told MailOnline there could be many more cases than the nearly 170 found globally by the WHO.