OTTAWA, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Toronto, Canada's largest city, issued a health warning on Saturday following an outbreak of hepatitis among about 400 dialysis patients at a local hospital.

    Toronto Public Health urged the patients not to share toothbrushes or razors with family members and to use condoms during sex.

    "There are eight patients we are investigating with new infections," Dr. Michael Finkelstein, an associate medical officerwith Toronto Public Health, told the Globe and Mail newspaper.

    It is not clear how dialysis patients who use the facilities run by Scarborough Hospital, located at Toronto's east end, would have become infected with the hepatitis B or C that has shown up in recent routine tests.

    Dr. Gordon Nagai, who works in the Scarborough Regional Dialysis Program, said that they were searching for the source of the infection. A staff member could be the source and the entire staff is being tested. However, the infection could be coming fromanother place.

    Every dialysis patient is being tested for both hepatitis B andC. As a further precaution, they are also testing for HIV during regular dialysis sessions.

    Hepatitis B and C are viral diseases of the liver spread through contact with blood or body fluids. The disease can cause permanent liver damage. Enditem