About 2,700 patients need to be tested for communicable diseases after it was found that syringes were reused in their treatments, officials in a Canadian health facility said Monday.

The syringes were used during 1,300 endoscopy procedures between March 2004 and the beginning of this month at the High Prairie Health Complex, a regional health center in the western province of Alberta.

As many as 1,400 patients who had dental surgery at the same facility as far back as 1990 also need to be tested, said Robin Laughlin, a general physician in High Prairie, 260 kilometers northwest of provincial capital Edmonton.

"It's a disappointing situation," he said.

The risk of infection is said to be very low, but people will require blood tests.

In endoscopy, a fibreglass scope is inserted into a patient's bowel or stomach and beams back video images to scan for cancers, colitis and digestive problems.

Prior to the procedure, the patient is sedated by a syringe inserted into the top of an intravenous line.

It is the second time in two years the quality control of the province's health system has been brought into question.

In early 2007, poor sterilization techniques and the outbreak of a superbug forced thousands of patients to be tested for infection.

(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2008)