The injection of any drug by an addict is bound to carry extensive hazard, but abusers apparently do not often consider this when taking their fix by the intravenous or intramuscular route. Some reports in New Scientist for May 20 regarding anthrax contamination of drugs are alarming. The discovery of anthrax spores in diamorphine in Norway and possibly Scotland has prompted the statement that virtually all supplies of the drug in Europe come from Asian countries where anthrax is endemic. Since most diamorphine comes from Afghanistan there is even a suggestion that anthrax there may be being exported in the cause of terrorism.
Signs of anthrax infection were found in two addicts who died recently in Glasgow. Normally, samples of diamorphine would not be examined for the presence of infectious agents. Ten addicts in Glasgow and Aberdeen who died after injecting diamorphine into muscle developed a painless lesion at the site, and died later. Some patients in Scotland have developed scabs characteristic of localised anthrax. However, the organism itself has not been isolated from lesions.
It is significant that anthrax is endemic in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, which supply most of the diamorphine used by addicts in Europe. Spores may well contaminate animal-derived material, such as gelatin or bone meal, which could find its way into the drug samples. Since it is not uncommon for diamorphine users to die, many cases of anthrax infection might pass unnoticed. Addicts would meanwhile be well advised to consider smoking diamorphine rather than injecting it.