NH public health director: Viral outbreak 'clearly tied' to hospital lab

Six more people have been linked with an outbreak of hepatitis C at Exeter Hospital's cardiac catheterization laboratory, bringing the total to 10, and forcing state health officials to call for hundreds more patients to be tested. The cause of the outbreak remained a mystery Wednesday as officials from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced nine patients and one hospital employee have now been diagnosed with an identical strain of the virus. The cardiac catheterization laboratory remains the only known connection between them. Believed to be the first of its kind in New Hampshire, the hepatitis C outbreak was announced publicly by the hospital last Thursday, May 31.