WHO/CDC
Hepatitis B is a potentially life-threatening liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus. It is a major global health problem and the most serious type of viral hepatitis. It can cause chronic liver disease and puts people at high risk of death from cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer.

Causes...

• Men or women who have multiple sex partners, especially if they don't use a condom
  
• Men who have sex with men
  
• Men or women who have sex with a person infected with hepatitis B virus
  
• People with other sexually transmitted diseases
  
• People who inject drugs with shared needles
  
• People who receive transfusions of blood or blood products
  
• People who undergo dialysis for kidney disease
  
• Institutionalized mentally handicapped people and their attendants, caregivers, and family members
  
• Health care workers who are stuck with needles or other sharp instruments contaminated with infected blood
  
• Infants born to infected mothers

In some cases, the source of transmission is never known.

Areas Where it Occur(s/ed)
 
    India was the last recorded outbreak of hepatitis b. Wednesday February 18, 2009; 19 people dead and 70 patients in Gujarat state have been treated(“India Hepatitis outbreak leaves 19 dead”). Friday February 20, 2009; 29 people dead and in a hepatitis b outbreak in western India. Officials described the disease as a “mutant, virulent form” of hepatitis b (“Hepatitis B outbreak kills 29 in India”). Saturday February 21, 2009; toll rises to 32 people of the contagious liver disease. Officials’ record 111 cases prior to the 70 from yesterday (“Arrest in India after hepatitis b kills 32”). Sunday February 22, 2009; now 38 deaths due to the outbreak of hepatitis b. instead of 111 there are now 125 recorded.

http://youtu.be/0CoMO9YcKDw

Hepatitis B History...
Viral hepatitis is a common infectious disease that kills about 1.5 million people every year. Although hepatitis had been recognized for centuries, doctors had no idea what caused it until the 1940s when they came to suspect that a virus carried in human blood was responsible.

Symptoms & Treatment....
Common symptoms

• Appetite loss
• feeling tired
• nausea & vomiting
• pain over the liver, lower rib cage
• Jaundice, the white in eyes turn yellow as well as the skin
• Pale colored stools, usually grayish or clay colored
• Dark pee, cola or tea colored
• Body aches
• Itchy skin
• fever
• muscle & joint pains

There really is no treatment once you have came in contact with the virus except the shots to relieve you symptoms.

10 Most Important facts...

• Infection kills one person every 30-45 seconds
• Most people are unaware of their infection
• 10 times more prevalent than HIV infection
• Hepatitis B is a viral infection that attacks the liver and can cause both acute and chronic disease.
• The virus is transmitted through contact with the blood or other body fluids of an infected person - not through casual contact.
• About 2 billion people worldwide have been infected with the virus and about 350 million live with chronic infection. An estimated 600 000 persons die each year due to the acute or chronic consequences of hepatitis B.
• About 25% of adults who become chronically infected during childhood later die from liver cancer or cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) caused by the chronic infection.
• The hepatitis B virus is 50 to 100 times more infectious than HIV.
• Hepatitis B virus is an important occupational hazard for health workers.
• Hepatitis B is preventable with a safe and effective vaccine