A further five people have now contracted the potentially-deadly hepatitis B virus after visiting the Finchley Alternative Medical Centre.

There are now 21 confirmed cases out of 219 people who were tested after receiving an obscure homeopathic treatment at the private clinic in Ballards Lane.

"Results are coming in thick and fast now," said a spokesman for Barnet Health Authority.

"About one in six tests is coming back positive but more than half are still to come."

Around a quarter of those tested are from Barnet and the outbreak has been described as one of the biggest in the last 50 years by the health authority's director of public health Dr Stephen Farrow.

He has contacted consultants nationwide this week to inform them on the progression of the outbreak. Its exact source is still unknown.

The virus has long-lasting effects in up to five per cent of cases and can be passed on to sexual partners without the carrier having any symptoms. Those in the early stages of infection will be offered new drugs developed to combat the HIV virus which have proved effective in trials against chronic hepatitis B.

Further tests will be required to determine if the same patients have been exposed to the hepatitis C virus.

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