Tests have confirmed that a patient treated at Catholic Medical Center had a fatal brain disease that 13 other patients might have been exposed to.
The Department of Health and Human Services said tests conducted at the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center showed that the patient had Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The disease is caused by a type of protein called a prion.
Earlier this month, CMC told eight neurosurgery patients that they might have been exposed to the disease through surgical equipment because the prion that causes the disease isn't destroyed by standard sterilization procedures.
Five other patients in Massachusetts and Connecticut also may have been exposed, health officials said.
Officials said the risk of the disease spreading is extremely low. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a rare and fatal disease that affects the nervous system and causes deterioration of the brain.