Thousands of consumers of sausages and pork sold by a UK supermarket could be infected with Hepatitis E, according to scientific research.

Public Health England has issued a warning after it was revealed that imported pork had infected 150,000 to 200,000 people a year with the virus.

Known officially as HEV G3-2, Hepatitis E causes liver cirrhosis and neurological damage.

The contaminated products come from The Netherlands and Germany; UK pigs do not have the virus.

While the supermarket involved has not been named, researchers are calling it Supermarket X.

The contaminated products include raw sausages that require cooking as well as ready-to-eat products and sliced ham, reports The Mirror .

The findings were based on the shopping which 60 infected people bought.

NHS Blood and Transplant have begun screening all donated blood and will do the same for donated organs and tissues in the future.

Most were said to suffer few symptoms however some develop serious illnesses, particularly those whose immune systems that may have been suppressed from other treatments.

It is estimated that up to 2% of people became ill.

One person interviewed had to go to intensive care after suffering a paralysed diaphragm when he contracted the virus from Dutch salami. He told The Times he had not recovered yet.

Dutch scientists claimed the virus is spread by collecting slaughtered pigs' blood before adding it back to the meat after processing it but without sterilising it.

According to NHS Choices, Hepatitis E is generally a mild and short-term infection that doesn't require any treatment, but it can be serious in some people, such as those who have a weakened immune system.