In 2009, 1,547 cases of hepatitis A were reported (1,520 in mainland France, 27 in the overseas departments). For mainland France, the annual incidence rate of reported cases was 2.5 per 100,000.

The two major events of 2009 were the continuation of a community-based outbreak in the Nord department—an outbreak that began in mid-2008—and the occurrence, in the Yonne department, of clusters of cases among populations living in temporary camps for travelers under poor sanitary conditions. The metropolitan departments with the highest incidence rates for 2009 were therefore these two departments. Unlike in previous years (2006–2008), when a downward trend in the number of cases from January to March was observed, an increase in the number of cases during this period was largely due to the outbreak in the Nord.

As in previous years, annual incidence rates in 2009 were higher among men than women and among those under 15 years of age compared to other age groups. The two main risk exposures in the 2 to 6 weeks prior to the onset of illness were the presence of hepatitis A cases in the immediate environment (47%)—with more than 70% of these being cases within the immediate family—and a stay outside mainland France (29%). Among cases who had traveled outside mainland France, 48% had visited one of the Maghreb countries. In 2009, 31% of reported cases were part of a cluster investigated by the Departmental Directorates of Health and Social Affairs.