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State Announces 'Secondary Case' In Hepatitis C Outbreak

State public health officials say another person has tested positive for Hepatitis C stemming from last year’s outbreak at Exeter Hospital. 

That brings the total number to 33.

A former hospital employee was arrested last July in connection with the spread of the virus inside the cardiac catheterization lab. Prosecutors say David Kwiatkowski reused syringes on patients after injecting himself with powerful pain killers.

Dr. Jose Montero, the state’s public health director, says it appears this latest case, though, is from sexual contact.

“We have a secondary case. A person who got infected through a procedure at Exeter Hospital has infected somebody else.”

Montero says this type of transmission is rare.

Kwiatkowski worked in seven other states before arriving in New Hampshire. Patients in Kansas, Maryland and Pennsylvania have also tested positive for matching strains of the virus. 

His trial in Federal court is set to begin in January. He denies the charges. 

Todd started as a news correspondent with NHPR in 2009. He spent nearly a decade in the non-profit world, working with international development agencies and anti-poverty groups. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from Columbia University.
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