Public health officials say six more Exeter Hospital patients have tested positive for Hepatitis C. That brings the total number of infections to 27.
Local, state and federal law enforcement are still investigating the cause of the outbreak. An Exeter Hospital employee is suspected of exposing patients to the liver-destroying virus by mishandling needles.
The Department of Health and Human Services is testing more than 1,000 patients who received medical care at Exeter’s Cardiac Catheterization Lab between October, 2010 and May, 2012.
An additional 12 patients have tested positive for a different strain of Hepatitis C that doesn’t match the hospital employee’s strain.
