A neurosurgery patient treated at a New Hampshire hospital this spring did have a rare brain disorder known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, health officials confirmed. That means that 15 other people in three states may have been exposed to the invariably deadly infection through potentially tainted surgical equipment. Autopsy results came back positive for CJD from the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center and were reported to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services and Catholic Medical Center, where the surgery took place. New Hampshire officials notified eight patients who may have been exposed to CJD through shared equipment earlier this month. Five additional people in Massachusetts and two in Connecticut were also informed of the risk, health officials in those states said.
