• One patient  had brain surgery in May then died in August from fatal Creutzfeldt-Jakob  disease
• Incurable  condition can survive standard sterilization
• Up to 13  people in several states may have been exposed to the  disease

By  Daily Mail Reporter and Associated Press

PUBLISHED: 17:49 EST, 4  September 2013 |  UPDATED: 18:27 EST, 4 September 2013

Officials in New Hampshire have raised the  horrifying possibility that up to 13 people in multiple states have been exposed  to a rare, degenerative and incurable brain disease through surgical  equipment.

Authorities at the Catholic Medical Center in  Manchester said on Wednesday that they believe one person who had brain surgery  in May died of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in August.

As the faulty proteins that cause the fatal  disease can survive standard sterilization, officials have notified eight people  who had brain surgery in that time and say up to five patients in other states  could have been exposed.

 

Fears: Authorities at the Catholic Medical Center in  Manchester, New Hampshire, have raised concerns that up to 13 people have been  exposed to a rare, degenerative and incurable brain disease through surgical  equipment

Worries: Dr Joseph Pepe, president of Catholic Medical  Center, (right) said that officials are 95 percent certain that the patient who  had brain surgery at the facility then died in August had the disease. It could  then have been passed on through medical equipment (left)

 

Authorities in New Hampshire have now  quarantined the equipment in question until an autopsy on the original victim is  complete. Some of the surgical instruments had been rented.

Dr. Joseph Pepe, president of Catholic  Medical Center, said that officials are 95 percent certain that the patient who  had brain surgery at the facility then died in August had the  disease.

While the idea of this degenerative brain  disorder being passed through contaminated equipment is terrifying, the chances  of the patients being exposed to the degenerative brain disease are  remote.

The disease has only been transmitted this  way four times, never in the United States.

 

Horrifying: The disease is degnerative, rare and  incurable. In this photo the screen shows the incidence of CJD on a human brain  (indicated with black rings round the white cells)

The disabling condition causes rapidly  progressive dementia, behavior changes, memory problems, loss of balance and  other impaired coordination.

It affects about one person in every one  million people per year worldwide according to the National Institutes of  Health. In the U.S there are about 200 cases per year.

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