The Miami Veterans' Hospital on Tuesday received 2,662 telephone calls from patients who were worried they may have been infected with the hepatitis virus and HIV from unclean equipment after undergoing colonoscopy there.

A total 351 veterans also visited Veterans Affairs (VA) clinics in Miami and Fort Lauderdale for consultation a day after the agency informed them via letter on Monday that colonoscopy equipment used on patients since 2004 were only rinsed and not disinfected by hospital staff as required. .

"There is a "very small but more than negligible chance" the veterans could have been exposed to viruses that cause hepatitis and HIV, said Dr. John Vara, the Miami VA's chief of staff, according to Miamiherald.com.

The VA learned of the faulty practice in its clinics in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Augusta, Georgia.

Meanwhile, the Miami VA hospital opened "special care clinics" where veterans exposed to unclean hospital equipment can undergo free testing.