The Vermont Health Department is joining the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in urging anyone born between 1945 and 1965 get tested for hepatitis C.
Officials say an estimated 12,000 people are living with hepatitis C in Vermont and many not know they have it. It can be detected with a simple blood test.
Three percent of baby boomers are living with the virus, and they make up 75% of people with hepatitis C. About one to two percent of the U.S. population is living with chronic hepatitis C, which is the Number one cause of liver cancer and liver transplants.
Causes include shared syringes, blood transfusions or organ donations before 1992, and unsafe tattooing or body piercing.