Hundreds of people have recently been sickened with the hepatitis A virus (HAV) in a region of eastern Uzbekistan, where vaccines for the disease are scarce, Food Safety News reports. According to local newspapers, at least one hospital in the Fergana Valley is overflowing with patients, and some sources say that every household in the region currently has two or more people sick with the virus. Although reporters are calling the outbreak a serious epidemic, the head of Uzbekistan’s sanitary board said he did not see reason for concern. Several doctors claim government health officials are covering up the situation by refusing to cite the actual number of victims.