WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 16, 2005--Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Representative Heather A. Wilson (R-NM) have sponsored the reintroduction of The Hepatitis C Epidemic Control and Prevention Act (S-521, HR-1290) into both Houses of the 109th Congress. The Hepatitis C Epidemic Control and Prevention Act mandates a comprehensive federal hepatitis C program to include counseling and testing, early detection, surveillance, education, training, and research. Hepatitis C is the most common blood-borne viral infection in the United States. An estimated 4 million Americans are infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), the most common cause of chronic liver disease and adult liver transplantation in the U.S. Approximately 30,000 new HCV cases are reported each year. Hepatitis C currently kills at least 12,000 Americans annually, a number that is expected to triple by 2010 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
