A deadly outbreak similar to one which killed more than 40 heroin addicts, eight of them in Dublin, could happen at any time, an inquiry warned today.
A UK inquiry into the deaths, headed by Sheriff Principal Edward Bowen QC said drug addiction should be treated as an "external threat" to national security.
All but two of the addicts contracted the clostridium novyi bacteria from a contaminated batch of heroin which originated in Afghanistan.
A total of 43 addicts in Dublin, the west of Scotland, north-west England, the West Midlands are known to have died from the flesh-eating disease necrotising fasciitis after coming into contact with the contaminated heroin.
The clostridium bacterium, which causes the disease, is thought to have found its way into the drug while it was being produced in Afghanistan and infected addicts who injected into muscle.
In his conclusions to the inquiry, which began last October, Sheriff Bowen said the production process was a "backyard industry".
And he said the "lurking threat of bio-terrorism" could not be disregarded given the ease and speed with which the infection spread.
It is believed that the bacterium, which was responsible for outbreaks of gas gangrene during the First and Second World Wars, found its way into the supply chain at production stage.
UK Police today released video footage of heroin being produced in filthy conditions in south west Asia, part of which was shown at the inquiry.
Detective Superintendent Stephen Heath said he hoped the footage would shock people into staying away from the drug.
Speaking at a press conference in Glasgow he said: "This video shows the dirty and unhygienic conditions in which heroin is produced."
He went on: "I would add that the Sheriff has commented there is every reason to suppose a similar outbreak could occur again without warning and on a significantly higher scale."
His view was endorsed by Dr Syed Ahmed, consultant in public health medicine at Greater Glasgow Health Board.
He said: "It is actually very surprising we don't get many more of these outbreaks given the conditions in which they are produced."
PA