The helpline set up at Beaumont Hospital to deal with the issue of potential CJD infection from surgical instruments says 13 hundred people contacted the service yesterday.

All patients, who may have contracted the brain disease from contaminated instruments, have now been contacted by the health service.

Up to 20 people may have been exposed - after operating equipment used on a patient with CJD was used on other people in recent weeks.

The phone line opened at 8 o'clock yesterday morning, and a spokesman says they were able to reassure most patients that they were not at risk.

The Chairman of the Irish Patients Association, Steve McMahon, says it would be an incredibly challenging time for anyone told they're at risk of CJD.