TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan has reported 28 cases of acute hepatitis A this year as of Tuesday (Feb. 15), 18 of which were Thai workers, as the health authorities raise concerns over the consumption of raw food.

The Thai patients live in Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, New Taipei, Changhua and Nantou. The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said its investigation points to contaminated meat eaten raw as the culprit.

CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) told CNA that the migrant worker cases are not linked and that chains of infection are still being probed. Contaminated food at unspecified stores some of the cases visited may have played a role.

Local authorities will wage a campaign to raise awareness among migrant communities about the liver infection. People classed as high risk will be inoculated with the hepatitis A vaccine to prevent a potential outbreak of the highly contagious disease, as many of migrant workers live in dorms, Chuang said.

The hepatitis A virus is found in the blood and stool of the infected and spreads through person-to-person contact or contaminated food or drink. The disease has a latent period of 15 to 50 days and causes symptoms that include fever, fatigue, diarrhea, and jaundice.