LONDON (Reuters) - Planned operations and outpatient appointments have been cancelled at three hospitals in northeastern England after a computer virus infected a health service network, the National Health Service Trust said.
In a post on its website, the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust called the attack a "major incident" and said it had cancelled all planned operations, outpatient appointments and diagnostic procedures for Wednesday.
"A virus infected our electronic systems on Sunday October 30 and we have taken the decision, following expert advice, to shut down the majority of our systems so we can isolate and destroy it," it said on the website.
Some patients, including major trauma cases and high-risk women in labour, were being diverted to other hospitals.
It was not clear whether the virus was caused by an attack, but earlier this year, the United States and Canada issued a rare joint cyber alert, warning against a surge in extortion attacks that infect computers with viruses known as ransomware which encrypt data and demand payments for it to be unlocked.
Ransomware is malicious software that locks up data in computers and leaves messages demanding payment to recover the data. In March, Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles paid a ransom of $17,000 (£13,893) to regain access to its systems.