Five more people may have been exposed to a fatal brain disease after undergoing spinal surgery at a Cape Cod hospital, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Health officials said equipment used during the Cape Cod surgeries was also used on a New Hampshire patient believed to have Creutzfeldt Jakob disease – a degenerative brain disorder spread by infected brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid.
Eight New Hampshire neurosurgery patients have also been contacted about a possible exposure, according to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.
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