Eight patients exposed to fatal brain disease at a New Hampshire hospital because it might have been what killed one patient while receiving brain surgery.

The eight patients exposed to the fatal brain disease have been notified immediately by the hospital's president of Catholic Medical Center, Dr. Joseph Pepe told the Star Tribune that none of the patients aren't panicking.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease is the brain disease the eight patients have been exposed to, which is characterized by rapidly progressive dementia which can cause death within months after symptoms first appearing. It has no treatment or cure.

"We felt the risk of that anxiety did not outweigh the ethical principle of letting them know and also preventing them from possibly contaminating or exposing others should they have another brain operation," Pepe told the Tribune.

One patient died while in surgery in August. The death is believed to be because of the disease and the worry for the other eight is because the abnormal proteins that cause the disease can survive standard sterilization practices. Other test are being completed to confirm the death of the one patient.

"They are all fine at this point, but I let them know that they can not only call my chief medical officer and the patient advocate ... but also myself, and we will stay with them as long as they need us," he said, adding that he apologized for causing them any anxiety.

The hospital will arrange counseling sessions if any of the patients request them, he said.

"Some may get angry later on, they may have anxiety, and then there are others who do not think anything of it," he said. "One person said, 'You know, I have really many other things more concerning than this.'"

A report came out that five others might have been exposed to the disease at a Massachusetts hospital. A specialized instrument that was used on the New Hampshire patient had been rented and reused at Cape Cod Hospital that was then used on these five patients.