As many as 40 pierced with non-sterile equipment

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National

IN BRIEF

As many as 40 pierced with non-sterile equipment

The Canadian Press

October 3, 2008

St. Catharines -- Health officials are urging anyone who received piercings at a

Niagara tattoo parlour to get blood tests for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

Niagara Region's public health department says as many as 40 people are believed

to have been pierced with non-sterile equipment at Venom Ink over the past three

months. The shop operated in St. Catharines in July and August and has been

running in Niagara Falls since September.

Bjorn Christensen, Niagara Region's director of environmental health, says

there's no evidence to indicate blood-borne diseases, such as HIV, were

transmitted to clients at the tattoo parlour.

But he says anyone pierced at either of the shop's locations should see a doctor

and ask for blood tests as a precaution.