2 dead, possibly 179 exposed to ‘superbug’ outbreak at UCLA hospital

Two people have died and possibly 179 others may have been exposed to a “superbug” at UCLA Medical Center.

The Associated Press noted that the hospital announced a possible link to the deaths and possible exposure on Wednesday.

In a statement, the hospital said that the patients may have been infected sometime between October and January after undergoing endoscopic procedures at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. They could have been exposed to antibiotic-resistant carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, during such procedures as the infection may have been transmitted through certain instruments. The manufacturer, however, claimed that those devices in question had been sterilized.

The medical facility also said that all 179 people have since been contacted about the potential outbreak.

"We notified all patients who had this type of procedure, and we were using seven different scopes. Only two of them were found to be infected. In an abundance of caution, we notified everybody," said Dale Tate, a UCLA spokeswoman.

FoxNews.com noted that similar situations of such outbreaks have occurred in Illinois in 2013 and in Seattle last month.