Chronic viral hepatitis due to hepatitis C is an enormous medical problem, affecting approximately 170 million people worldwide (WHO) [ref 4]. In the U.S., an estimated 2.7 million people suffer from chronic HCV, with 10,000-12,000 deaths per year attributable to the disease (ref 5). Chronic HCV infections in the U.S. are usually acquired through injectable drug use, sexual contact, or receipt of contaminated blood products (before antibody screening was initiated in 1990). Most persons exposed to HCV (75%) develop asymptomatic chronic infection. Eventually, 15%-20% will die of cirrhosis and liver cancer without intervention [ref 4].