Nearly 5,000 patients from a hospital in Utah have been warned about being possibly exposed to Hepatitis C virus.
Health officials from Utah Department of Health have sent warning letters to patients from McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden about possibly having contracted the virus and urged them to get tested.
Officials believe that a nurse who used to work at the hospital is responsible for the exposure.
The state's health department spokeswoman said that the nurse, who has since been fired, had been using the drugs that led to the exposure.
An investigation into the incident started after a patient carried the same virus as the nurse during her shift in the emergency room. Authorities from Ogden reported to KTVX, an affiliate of ABC News, that the nurse did admit using drugs.
Lt. Danielle Croyle from the police department revealed to the news outlet that the suspect came clean to the hospital, which then relayed the information to the authorities.
Following the report on the exposure, several patients have undergone testing for possible infection of the hepatitis C virus, KUTV reported.
."Outrage, just pure outrage," Aime Schofield, mother to a McKay-Dee patient, said, according to the report.
"They definitely broke my trust. I don't want to go back there, if they let this woman in there for so long and didn't catch it, what if there's another nurse?" added Schofield, whose son has special needs and has been to the hospital several times during the period of the incident.
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by hepatitis C virus or HCV, which is usually spread through blood via needle sharing, blood donation, or handling contaminated medical equipment.
Hospital spokesperson Chris Dallin said that so far, patients have heeded the warning and are going for the tests. Dallin reportedly said that chances of contracting the virus may be low, but it's the only way for patients to know if they have the virus or not and get the peace of mind they need.
The virus can cause both acute and chronic infection, the latter being life-threatening and can cause liver injury and possibly death.
The disease is treatable, and according to the World Health Organization, approximately 90 percent of people with the infection can be cured with antiviral drugs.
