The New Mexico Corrections Department will begin treating inmates for hepatitis C for the first time this week.

Officials say the virus infects about a third of the state's 6,200 inmates.

Hepatitis C can destroy the liver in a small percentage of people who suffer from it.

The disease is often contracted through intravenous drug use.

Officials say the treatment can last up to a year and cost up to $30,000 per patient.

A University of New Mexico School of Medicine liver-disease specialist, Frank Pullara, says most people with hepatitis C don't ever become seriously ill.