Anthrax Hits No. 6
Nick Sharpe
A SIXTH heroin addict has tested positive for killer bug Anthrax, it emerged last night.
The toxin - thought to have contaminated the drug as it was cut with bonemeal - has already killed three junkies.
But the latest victim was said to be "responding well" last night as doctors treated him at Monklands Hospital in Airdrie.
The two other confirmed cases - both men - were also making progress at Monklands and Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow.
A woman is still being tested for the disease at the city's Southern General. Dr Syed Ahmed, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, said: "The possible presence of a batch of heroin contaminated with anthrax makes drug injecting even riskier."
But he added: "It is extremely rare for anthrax to be spread from person to person and there is no significant risk of airborne transmission from one person to another."
Bosses at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lanarkshire are still trying to identify the source of the lethal spores. Strathclyde Police also investigating.
Earlier reports of a man from Cumbria suffering symptoms, have now been discounted. Anthrax is a deadly bacterial infection which occurs mostly in animals in Asia and Africa. And heroin often comes from areas where the bug is more common.
The first fatality - a man - died at Victoria Infirmary on December 16. Since then two other men have died at Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
Any heroin injecting patients with serious soft tissue infections are being investigated in the health probe.
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