The woman - who has asked not to be named - is one of 24 people who came into contact with surgical instruments which were used on someone who was later diagnosed with sporadic CJD.

The mother-of-one had two operations for a benign brain tumour at the hospital while the instruments were still in use.

She told the BBC she was shocked at being told that she was on the "at risk" list.

They didn't answer my questions... I'm still as ignorant of what CJD is today as I was when I went to see the hospital

Hospital patient

"Like hundreds of other people I watched the news thinking 'isn't that terrible', not thinking for one minute it would have happened to me.

"A family member telephoned me asking me to ring the hospital... I said if it had been me, I would have been told already as it was 11am, not suspecting that when I did ring I'd be told I was on the list.

"I went to see someone [at the hospital] on Thursday to try and get some questions answered... I felt they were just doing damage limitation.

"They didn't answer my questions... I'm still as ignorant of what CJD is today as I was when I went to see the hospital."

South Tees NHS revealed on 29 October how instruments used on 24 patients were also used in an operation on a female patient who was later found to have the sporadic form of CJD.

Bill Murray: "Staff worked all night"

Sporadic CJD is not linked to eating BSE-infected meat.

The instruments were only quarantined when her condition was diagnosed 20 days later.

The 24 'at risk' patients have been told the disease can take up to 30 years to incubate.

The woman added: "Someone has to shout out about this and say it is not going to happen again. There are 23 other families out there who may not be strong enough to shout out yet.

"All I can do is sit for the next 20 years and hope I don't start getting signs of CJD... whatever those signs are."

Newspaper story

Chief executive of South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust Bill Murray said: "That was the last way we wanted this lady to find out about the situation she was in.

"My staff worked all night to get a helpline up and running for 8am the next morning.

"We would have preferred to go into their living rooms or invite them to hospital to tell them.

"That was denied to us by the newspapers going out and making this public."