That brings the total number of cases to 99 in Fremont. Each of the infected people were treated at the clinic between March 2000 to December 2001.
"I'm cautious about saying the matter is over, but I'll be pretty surprised if we find additional cases now," Safranek said. "We have no plans to do any more testing."
An initial round of testing last year on 486 former clinic patients revealed 82 hepatitis C cases.
Blood samples were retested, using a different technique that looks for viral RNA, after a woman who initially tested negative was found to have hepatitis C.
The second round of tests uncovered the 17 additional infections. Those people were notified of their infection last week by their personal physicians, Safranek said.
Dr. Alexandre Macedo De Oliveira, epidemic intelligence service officer for the Centers for Disease Control, has said the Fremont hepatitis C outbreak was the largest of its kind in the nation, and perhaps the world.
Hepatitis C is a viral infection of the liver and the most common bloodborne infection in the nation. The virus causes no symptoms in most cases and the majority of carriers do not know they are infected.
The virus affects the liver and can eventually lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer.
The infected patients in Fremont all were treated from March 2000 to December 2001 at a clinic operated by Dr. Tahir Javed.
The clinic is now closed, and Javed has returned to his native Pakistan.
The infections were caused by a nurse's failure to follow sanitary precautions, Safranek said.
Javed's attorney, Michael Jones of Omaha, did not return a telephone message left at his office. A receptionist said Jones would be out of town until next week.
Fremont attorney Jim Davis, who represents 20 infected people who have filed lawsuits against Javed, said he was not surprised by the news of the additional cases.
He said he suspects there are more cases, pointing out that there were people who did not get tested after receiving letters advising them to do so.
Safranek said he believes there will be few, if any, more cases linked to Javed's clinic.
Safranek said a portion of the 127 people who weren't tested by Nebraska Health and Human Services were tested by their own physicians.
Some have died of cancer, he said, and some didn't want to know their status because they already have numerous other health problems.
Davis said none of the 17 people who recently found out they were infected have sought his legal counsel.
The state began an investigation in September 2002 when health authorities were notified by a Fremont physician that there seemed to be an unusually high number of hepatitis C cases diagnosed in Fremont.
The 17 additional cases has brought into question the standard testing method for the virus in patients with compromised immune systems, such as cancer patients.
Safranek said that the run of false-negatives in Fremont will be considered by national health and laboratory experts and may lead to a new standard for testing for patients with compromised immune systems.