Table 1 Estimate of hepatitis B preva- lence in the USA, based on census data and prevalence estimates, by ethnicity Letter to the Editor 13 Ethnic group US born API Foreign-born API African–American Caucasian Other ethnicities Total: Population size, USA* 4 171 909 8 696 936 34 962 569 215 333 394 25 213 329 Prevalence of chronic HBV 1.4% 8.9% 0.42% 0.42% 0.42% Total chronic HBV infection 58 406 774 027 146 842 904 400 105 895 1 989 570 *Population sizes based on the US Census Bureau, 2005 American Community Survey [12]. Hepatitis B prevalence for APIs is based on data from the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University [3]. Prevalence for all other ethnicities is based on NHANES III data [6]. chronic hepatitis B that includes updated estimates from high-risk, undercounted populations, is a crucial ﬁrst step towards signiﬁcantly reducing the burden of chronic hepatitis B in this country. The Hepatitis B Foundation calls for action to be taken to allow all individuals in the USA who are chronically infected with hepatitis B to be counted. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Hepatitis B Foundation, National Cancer Institute and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are acknowledged for their role in supporting the preparation of this manuscript. Dr John Ward (Director, Division of Viral Hepatitis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is thanked for his helpful reading of the manuscript. REFERENCES 1 Gish R, Gadano A. Chronic hepatitis B: Current epidemiol- ogy in the Americas and implications for management. J Viral Hepat 2006; 13: 787–798. 2 Waksberg J, Levine D, Marker D. Assessment of Major Federal Data Sets for Analyses of Hispanic and Asian or Paciﬁc Islander Subgroups and Native Americans: Extending the Utility of Federal Data Bases. Available at http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/minority-db00/task3/index.htm. Accessed April 2006. 3 Asian Liver Center at Stanford University. Hepatitis B Sta- tistics for Asians and Paciﬁc Islanders. Available at http:// liver.stanford.edu/Edu/Edu_stat.php. Accessed March 2007. 4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Screening for chronic hepatitis B among Asian/Paciﬁc Islander populations — New York City, 2005. MMWR 2006; 55(18): 505–509. 5 Chao S, Lee PV, Prapong W, Su J, So S. High prevalence of chronic hepatitis B (HBV) infection in adult Chinese 2007 The Authors Journal compilation 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd Americans living in California. Hepatology 2004; 40 (Suppl. 1): 717A. 6 McQuillan G, Coleman P, Kruszon-Moran D, Moyer L, Lambert S, Margolis H. Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in the United States: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1976–1994. Am J Public Health 1999; 89(1): 14–18. 7 Passel J, Pew Hispanic Center.The Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S. Estimates Based on the March 2005 Current Population Survey: Research Report. 2006. Available at http://pewhispanic. org/ﬁles/reports/61.pdf. Accessed June 2006. 8 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Medical Man- agement of Chronic Hepatitis B and Chronic Hepatitis C. IDU HIV Prevention. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/idu/hep- atitis/manage_chronich_hep_b-c.pdf. Accessed September 2006. 9 National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable. Eliminating hepatitis: a call to action. April 2006. Available at http:// www.nvhr.org/pdf/NVHR_calltoAction.pdf. Accessed July 2007. 10 Brody J. Deadly Liver Cancer Creeps In. The Ledger. October 18, 2005. 11 Edwards B, Brown M, Wingo P et al. Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975–2002, Featuring Population-Based Trends in Cancer Treatment. J Natl Cancer Inst 2005; 97: 1407–1427. Available at http:// jncicancerspectrum.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/jnci; 97/19/1407. Accessed May 2006. 12 U.S. Census Bureau. 2005 American Community Survey. 2005. Available at http://factﬁnder.census.gov/servlet/IP Table?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2005_ EST_G00_S0201&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201 PR&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201T&-qr_name= ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201TPR&-ds_name=ACS_2005_ EST_G00_&-reg=. Accessed February 2007.