Mystery illness kills twelfth heroin addict

A mystery illness affecting heroin addicts in Glasgow has claimed another life, bringing the death toll to 12. The outbreak is now being positively linked with a similar spate of deaths in Dublin, which has killed seven drug users. A total of 26 addicts in Glasgow and 14 drug users in Dublin have been affected by the illness.

A mystery illness affecting heroin addicts in Glasgow has claimed another life, bringing the death toll to 12. The outbreak is now being positively linked with a similar spate of deaths in Dublin, which has killed seven drug users. A total of 26 addicts in Glasgow and 14 drug users in Dublin have been affected by the illness.

Last week, tests at the chemical warfare research centre in Porton Down, Wiltshire, ruled out anthrax, which scientists had suggested may have caused the Glasgow outbreak.

All the Glasgow cases are believed to have injected directly into muscle tissue and have suffered severe inflammation around the site of the injection, followed by shock, collapse and in some cases death. The Irish cases followed a similar pattern except that most victims have been men, while more women were affected in Glasgow.

American medical experts have been called in to helpboth cities' investigations and tissue samples from people affected by the illness have been sent to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.