Dr Syed Ahmed: "No implications for the wider public"

A health board report described an "unprecedented outbreak of severe illness" among 60 users in Scotland, mostly in Glasgow, between April and August 2000.

And it identified the bacterium clostridium novyi - from the same family of organisms as wound botulism - as the cause of the illness.

Although no other cases of wound botulism have been reported, there are fears among the city's 16,500 injecting addicts that a batch of contaminated heroin is back on the streets of Glasgow.

The man was admitted to Stobhill hospital in the north of the city last weekend.

Slow paralysis

Doctors are still awaiting test results but are confident they have correctly identified the wound botulism infection - which causes slow paralysis.

The organism that causes wound botulism is commonly found in the environment and heroin users provide it with the ideal conditions to thrive.

Health experts said this is likely to be a one-off case, and was probably diagnosed because of the increased vigilance of doctors in the Glasgow area.

Dr Syed Ahmed, a public health consultant at Greater Glasgow Health Board, said: "Because it is not transmissible from person to person there will be no implications for the wider public.

"There will be implications for other drug injectors if they shared heroin with this patient, or if the batch of heroin is contaminated.

Dr Laurence Gruer: "Paralyses the muscles"

"We have alerted all accident and emergency departments and GPs. We are looking out for other cases."

Dr Laurence Gruer, an expert on drug abuse at the Public Health Institute for Scotland, said: "The bug produces a toxin which basically paralyses the muscles and it's one of the most powerful toxins known.

"Even a tiny amount is enough to cause weakness of the muscles. The biggest risk is that it will prevent you from being able to breathe if the muscles around your diaphragm and ribcage fail to work.

"The message is that as long as you are injecting street heroin you take the risk that it is contaminated with other things."