Anthrax drug death sparks fear of Europe-wide pandemic

A drug addict in Blackpool, UK, died from an anthrax infection, sparking concerns of a pan-European outbreak of the rare disease.

­Medical experts suggested that the death was caused by contaminated heroin, Reuters reported. The incident comes in the wake of similar anthrax outbreaks in Europe. The Blackpool infection is the only fatal case thus far.

Since June, three incidents were recorded in Germany, two in Denmark and one in France. A heroin addict was also hospitalized in Scotland a month ago.  “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 UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) told the Guardian.

Read more: Anthrax drug death sparks fear of Europe-wide pandemic — RT