HEALTH BODY AND GARDAI TO INVESTIGATE MYSTERY DEATHS

Gardai and health officials fear there could be many more victims of a
mystery illness striking heroin addicts than originally thought.

It is now thought that up to 14 people have died. With the death toll
rising, detectives and drugs experts from the Eastern Regional Health
Authority (ERHA) were last night cross checking details of heroin related
deaths in their records to determine exactly how many have died.

The ERHA has recorded 14 admissions to hospital of patients suffering the
same symptoms of the unexplained illness in the last fortnight. Seven of
those patients, all from Dublin, have died.

The authority said yesterday it was also examining the death of a female
heroin addict who died in hospital yesterday, but it was not yet clear
whether her illness was the same as that in the confirmed cases.

It has also emerged yesterday that the gardai were investigating 14
suspicious deaths of heroin addicts, some of whom were not among the
admissions to hospital already recorded. This has given rise to concerns
that the outbreak may be even more serious than originally anticipated.

Public health specialist Dr Joe Barry said last night that ERHA personnel
were working with the gardai to establish how many of the deaths were
common to both investigations and how many of the new cases reported to the
gardai may have been caused by the mystery illness.

"We have checked with the pathologists who carried out post mortems in
these cases and we are trying to find out how many met the criteria for the
illness we have been seeing," said Dr Barry.

He said it was necessary to first rule out the possibility that any victims
previously unseen by the ERHA had not overdosed or died of general drug
related health problems.

Before yesterday morning's death, there had been no new suspected victim of
the illness for over a week, although four of the 14 original cases are
still receiving treatment in hospital.

Despite extensive tests and medical examinations, it is still not known
what is the source of the sickness which causes severe inflammation, septic
wounds and abscesses.

ERHA staff are working in tandem with health officials in Glasgow, where 12
heroin addicts have died in the last few weeks from an illness almost
identical to that behind the outbreak in Dublin.

The National Center for Disease Control in the United States has also sent
experts to Dublin and Glasgow and Dr Barry said heroin and tissue samples
were being sent to the US for testing.

Heroin addicts are still being warned not to use the drug but to come
forward to their GP, local health authority treatment centre or mobile
methadone clinic to get help.