Chinese state media say 95 people have been hospitalized after a private clinic gave them injections suspected to be contaminated with hepatitis C.

The official Xinhua News Agency says 120 patients who received treatment at the clinic in Liaoning province were traced and screened for the disease and 95 of those are suspected to have been infected with hepatitis C.

It said Tuesday that local authorities were tipped off that patients who had received varicose vein treatment could be infected. It says the case is being investigated.

The hepatitis C virus causes a liver disease which can range from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong condition that can lead to cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer.