A Los Angeles-area hospital official reported on Wednesday that its several patients were found to be infected with an antibiotic-resistant ‘superbug’. The hospital officials have linked the infection to a type of medical scope and infected dozens of people around the country.

Huntington Memorial Hospital said in a statement that after becoming aware of the situation it immediately informed the public health authorities and have also quarantined the scopes while.

The statement released by the hospital nowhere mentioned about the total number of patients infected, it also didn’t give any details on the condition of the patients.

However, the Los Angeles Times said the problem was discovered in June and so far three patient infections have been reported to health officials.

As per reports, drug-resistant bacterial infections around the country have been linked to contamination of the reusable scopes, which are used for a procedure known as endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.

During the procedure fiber-optic scopes are placed down a patient’s throat and are used to diagnose and treat gallstones, blockages and cancers of the digestive tract.

“The patients who experienced the bacterial growth were very ill before they underwent the scope procedure, and the risk of the procedure was explained to each patient and family”, Huntington Memorial's statement said.

A dozen infections were reported earlier this year at Cedars-Sinai and UCLA's Ronald Reagan medical centers in Los Angeles, where death of three patients was reported.

The hospitals said in a statement that the infections occurred even after the devices had been cleaned to the manufacturer's standards. They have since implemented more stringent disinfection procedures.