At the end of February, eight people who underwent procedures at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas were diagnosed with hepatitis C. Therefore, Southern Nevada Health District officials revoked the clinic business license and, as a precaution, recommended nearly 40,000 people who received anesthesia at the clinic between March 2004 and January 11 of this year be tested for all trains of hepatitis as well as HIV.

Hepatitis C is a chronic, potentially fatal virus that can cause liver ailments, including cancer and lifer failure. The concern is higher than usual, as many patients who contract the blood-borne hepatitis C are asymptomatic for many years. Early symptoms include jaundice, nausea, and fatigue. The disease is most often transmitted by sharing unclean needles and syringes.

Things seem to worsen for the clinic as Nevada health officials reported Thursday 77 new cases of hepatitis C among patients treated at the clinic. The infections were caused by the reuse of anesthesia syringes among multiple patients. Records show the patients were in good health before seeking treatment at the Nevada clinic.

“We know they didn’t have a positive test before they went to the clinic, and now they’re positive,” Brian Labus, senior epidemiologist with the Southern Nevada Health District, said, as quoted by Fox News.

Most shocking is the fact that the clinic has not received any inspection since 2001 and, according to state policies, ambulatory medical centers must be officially examined every three years.

The outbreak has drawn the attention of federal health officials and law enforcement authorities, including the Nevada attorney general and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A similar outbreak of hepatitis C occurred in 2002 at a Nebraska cancer clinic, when 99 patients were infected because a nurse used the same syringe on more than one patient. The number of hepatitis C cases at the Nevada clinic could be higher than 99, as health officials are still learning about patients who underwent treatment there and got infected with the virus.