Heroin contaminated with anthrax could kill fifty addicts in Scotland

Published on Thursday 7 January 2010 21:51

HEALTH officials fear that a deadly anthrax outbreak could kill up to 50 heroin addicts across Scotland after the epidemic claimed its sixth victim.

The outbreak began in Glasgow but doctors now believe contaminated heroin is circulating all over Scotland. They fear the death toll could match that of a similar case among Scottish heroin addicts in 2000 that claimed 43 lives.

It was confirmed yesterday that the sixth person to die was a 49-year-old man whose body was found in Stirling city centre. He is the first fatality in the NHS Forth Valley area.

There has also been a single death in Tayside, another in Lanarkshire, and four fatalities in Glasgow.

Dr Colin Ramsay, consultant epidemiologist at Health Protection Scotland, which is leading a major inquiry to establish the source of the anthrax in the heroin, said contaminated drugs now appeared to be spreading all over the country.

Dr Ramsay said: "The death of this patient in NHS Forth Valley indicates further geographical spread of the cases, meaning that heroin users all across Scotland need to be aware of the risks of a potentially contaminated supply."

He added: "I would urge all users to stop using heroin immediately and contact local drug support services for help in stopping. If any heroin users do notice signs of infection, for example marked redness and swelling around an injection site or other signs of serious infection such as a high fever, they should seek urgent medical advice."

In total, 11 addicts have taken ill with anthrax infections in Scotland in recent weeks.

Dozens more people could be killed by the anthrax-contaminated heroin, drug experts warned last night.

Andrew Horne, director of operations at drug and alcohol charity Addaction, said: "It is very worrying and I suppose it shows that we have no clear understanding of how the drug market works in terms of supply routes."

Heroin contaminated with the flesh-eating bug necrotising fasciitis killed 43 addicts in Scotland in 2000.

Mr Horne said the number of deaths caused by the anthrax- infected heroin could reach these numbers.

He said: "The outbreak in 2000 lasted about six weeks and then we never heard of it again, but because it is all illegal there is no way of knowing."

Gordon Meldrum, Director General of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, who leads on drugs for the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, said: "The deaths associated with anthrax are disturbing and are being treated very seriously by all the relevant authorities.

"The Scottish Police Service is now coordinating the investigation into a number of drug related deaths across the country in order to gather as much information as possible about possible links and causes."