A radiology technologist at a Jacksonville Mayo Clinic may have put patients at risk of contracting Hepatitis C.

The Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida has already tested 2,400 for Hepatitis C, and have sent letters out to over 2,000 more.

The former employee who was fired in August has admitted to using an injectable painkiller for his own personal use. The problem is, he has Hepatitis C, which is contagious through the blood. 3 Patients were infected with the virus, which happens to be the same strain that the employee has.

An update from the clinic said, “The additional patients (that letters have been mailed to) are primarily those who received care in interventional radiology at St. Luke’s Hospital from 2004 to April 11, 2008, when Mayo Clinic owned St. Luke’s Hospital.”

Hepatitis C is an infectious disease that affects a persons liver. It can cause chronic infection, as well as scarring of the liver, which can advance into cirrhosis of the liver as well as liver cancer. The virus is spread through blood to blood contact. Approximately 290 million people worldwide are currently infected by the virus.