The recent deaths of heroin-users in the Republic "seem identical" to the deaths of heroin-users in Scotland and the northwest of England in recent months, according to Dr Laurence Gruer of the Greater Glasgow Health Board, who is co-ordinating Scottish efforts to identify the cause of the deaths.
Dr Gruer, a consultant in public health, said yesterday the manner of the deaths in Dublin, Glasgow and Manchester seemed "identical" and a link between them would be "extremely firm" if it could be established that they all suffered from the same symptoms before death. The deaths of 36 people are being linked to the use of adulterated heroin, including eight in Dublin, 16 in Glasgow and possibly three more in the West Midlands.
Efforts are continuing to isolate a bacterium contained in adulterated heroin which may be linked to the deaths. Dr Gruer said he had received a large number of heroin samples, but tests had not been completed. Tests are being carried out at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the US to identify the cause of the deaths. Dr Gruer said he believed that bacteria from the clostridia family, which produces an illness profile closest to the illness experienced by the heroin-users, may have caused their deaths.
When the adulterated heroin is injected into muscle, the acid in which the heroin is dissolved burns a hole in the muscle allowing the bacterium to establish itself. It then releases a powerful toxin into the circulation that damages organs, including the heart, causing them to fail.
Earlier, three men were released without charge by police in the West Midlands following the death of Mr Derek John Anderson (45), a heroin-user, in Wolverhampton at the weekend. Two were questioned on suspicion of murder and one on suspicion of supplying heroin.
The results of toxicology tests and Mr Anderson's post-mortem will not be known for several weeks, but police believe his death may be linked to the deaths of two other heroin-users in the area in the past week and the recent deaths in Ireland, Glasgow and the north-west of England.
A spokesman for West Midlands Police said the investigation into Mr Anderson's death is continuing and others could yet be arrested.