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| Anthrax death confirmed in Blackpool | Anthrax death confirmed in Blackpool |
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| A drug user has died of anthrax in hospital in Blackpool, triggering concerns of a second outbreak of death and serious illness among injecting heroin users in Britain. | A drug user has died of anthrax in hospital in Blackpool, triggering concerns of a second outbreak of death and serious illness among injecting heroin users in Britain. |
| A drug user was hospitalised in Lanarkshire, Scotland, last month and health watchdogs are trying to establish whether the incidents are linked to a pan-European outbreak suspected of being caused by contaminated heroin. Since early June, three cases have been reported in Germany, two in Denmark and one in France. | |
| Anthrax among drug users was considered to be very rare – before an outbreak between 2009-10, mainly in Scotland, only one previous case had been reported, in Norway in 2000. Fourteen people died out of 119 confirmed cases in Scotland in the last outbreak. In England, there were five confirmed cases, including four deaths,including one in Blackpool, 24-year-old Shane Brown. | |
| Although they have not officially been linked, European health experts say the recent cases could have come from the same batch of contaminated heroin in the 2009-10 outbreak. | |
| Dilys Morgan, an expert at the Health Protection Agency in England and Wales, said: "It's likely that further cases among PWID [people who inject drugs] will be identified as part of the ongoing outbreak in EU countries. The Department of Health has alerted the NHS of the possibility of people who are injecting drugs presenting to emergency departments and walk-in clinics, with symptoms suggestive of anthrax. | Dilys Morgan, an expert at the Health Protection Agency in England and Wales, said: "It's likely that further cases among PWID [people who inject drugs] will be identified as part of the ongoing outbreak in EU countries. The Department of Health has alerted the NHS of the possibility of people who are injecting drugs presenting to emergency departments and walk-in clinics, with symptoms suggestive of anthrax. |
| "Anthrax can be cured with antibiotics, if treatment is started early. It is, therefore, important for medical professionals to know the signs and symptoms to look for, so that there are no delays in providing the necessary treatment." | "Anthrax can be cured with antibiotics, if treatment is started early. It is, therefore, important for medical professionals to know the signs and symptoms to look for, so that there are no delays in providing the necessary treatment." |
| Anthrax is a serious bacterial infection. The disease occurs most often among wild and domestic animals in Asia, Africa and parts of Europe. It is not known exactly how long symptoms can take to develop following the use of contaminated heroin, but in most cases during the 2009-10 outbreak, symptoms started within one to seven days of taking heroin. |