In the organic garden and among the compost bins and vegetable plots, they said their final farewell as the 50-year-old’s ashes were scattered beneath the boughs of an apple tree. But one issue still had not been laid to rest. Almost a month since Norris had died nobody knew what had killed him.
“The rumour initially was that he had died of meningitis,” said Dave Allen, a close friend. “But when that was discounted by the authorities, we didn’t know what to think. It was very disquieting, a real mystery.”
Doctors at Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary were equally baffled. In the days after Norris’ death, on July 8, they were unable to determine the cause. A blood sample was sent to London and then to scientists at the government’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down.
On August 10, a month after Norris’s mysterious death, they made an alarming discovery. Anthrax was present in the woodcarver’s blood.
Norris had just become the first Briton in more than 30 years to die from the deadly bacteria.
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The Scottish executive reacted swiftly. An investigation team comprising health and government officials was convened. They knew anthrax, while rare in Britain, usually affected animals. Since it could not be spread between humans, Norris’s rural home was the most likely source of infection. It was designated an “infected place” under 1991 anthrax regulations. The windows were boarded up and wire fencing erected around the property. Bright yellow signs warned “ biohazard”.
Desperate to avoid another casualty, the authorities have focused efforts on tracking down anyone who visited Norris’s home in the weeks before and after his death. So far almost 60 people have been traced and treated with antibiotics. Plans to decontaminate Black Lodge are in hand.
But as the precautions are painstakingly put in place, local residents are demanding swift answers to other, more pressing questions. For example, how exactly did this unassuming man from the Scottish borders, who made a modest living making musical instruments, contract one of the world’s deadliest bacteria? Was there a connection with the animal skins Norris used to make a drum? Did the anthrax come from a dead badger whose skin he had worked on shortly before his death? If so, how many more infected animals might be on the loose in the Scottish countryside? Or could there be another explanation?
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ANTHRAX is one of those words that can strike fear into the sturdiest of hearts. The day before the details of Norris’s death were released, Hawick bustled with tourists. The day after, in the words of one shopkeeper, it was “virtually deserted”. Such a reaction is perhaps unsurprising.
The bacteria’s potent threat to life was demonstrated by British scientists during the second world war, when tens of thousands of anthrax spores were unleashed on a flock of sheep on Gruinard in the Highlands, in a germ warfare experiment. The sheep died within three days. The area became so contaminated it was deemed out of bounds for almost 50 years.
While anthrax spores occur naturally in soil and are more likely to infect grazing animals such as cows, sheep, horses and goats — often without fatal consequences — it can be deadly to humans. It has been estimated that just 100kg of anthrax sprayed on a large city could kill more than 3m people.
Humans can be infected through skin contact, ingestion or inhalation, the latter proving fatal in as little as a week. Internal bleeding, blood poisoning or even meningitis are preceded by symptoms such as mild fever, fatigue and coughing.
Mercifully, though, deaths caused by naturally occurring anthrax are rare these days. Its last human victim in the UK was in 1974.
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Yet how, 32 years later, did Norris contract anthrax? Sources close to the case admit the answer is not yet known, but point to a number of emerging possibilities.
Officials from Health Protection Scotland are investigating a small music class run in Smailholm village hall that Norris joined in January. Members meet every week to play traditional west African Malinke music on goat-hide drums imported from Guinea. There is concern that anthrax, common in Africa’s agricultural regions, may have lain dormant in the hides.
Another possible source of infection is a dead badger that Norris told friends he found virtually intact on the main road between Selkirk and St Boswell earlier this year. He took it home and used the hide to make two djembe drums.
Some scientists argue the chances of a badger becoming riddled with anthrax are extremely small. However, it has emerged that less than a mile from where Norris claimed he found the animal, the cremated remains of a cow that died from anthrax was buried in a pit on the Duke of Buccleuch’s estate in 1993. The contaminated soil was later moved to another, secret location on the estate.
Dominic Mellor, an independent veterinary consultant for Health Protection Scotland and an expert on anthrax, concedes there could be a link. “Badgers are susceptible to anthrax,” he said. “In theory it could ingest spores by burrowing in soil or by feeding on an animal that died of anthrax. If an animal dies of anthrax, if it’s overwhelmed by spores, then enough of them could be present in the body to pose a significant risk to humans.”
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There is yet another possibility. The Sunday Times has learned that problems with the local water supply last year convinced Norris to build a 12ft-deep well in his back garden. Against the advice of friends, he pumped untreated underground water from the well into his home that he is believed to have used for cooking, bathing and drinking.
Mellor says anthrax spores could have found their way into local water courses. “Anthrax spores are extremely resistant and while they prefer dry conditions, they could survive in water,” he said.
However, he also cautions against unnecessary alarm. “I think it’s unlikely there are large numbers of animals running around with anthrax,” he added. “In the absence of evidence to the contrary, even if a badger was the source I find it hard to believe it’s a widespread problem. This would have been picked up by now.”
Those close to the investigation believe it may take months rather than weeks for the definitive explanation to become clear. In the meantime, the people of the borders have no way of knowing what precautions to take to ensure they are safe.
“Was this just a rotten piece of luck that [Norris] picked up a diseased badger or is it the case that we need to be looking elsewhere for the source?” Christine Graham, MSP for South of Scotland, said. “Quite clearly, the source of the infection needs to be established as quickly as possible.”
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Local residents have criticised NHS Borders for the way it has dealt with the case, which did nothing to make them feel safer. Not all of those considered at risk were alerted to the anthrax connection at the same time, some finding out through media reports up to four days later.
“I have to say I am dismayed at the way it’s been handled,” said Jenny Mutch, a friend of Norris who has been put on medication to protect her against a possible infection. “We could and should have been told much sooner.”
Now, those who knew Norris are struggling to come to terms with his death. After a four-year battle against leukaemia, he was given a clean bill of health by doctors two weeks before he died. It seemed he had won the fight against his illness.
“That is a cruel irony,” observes Allen. “In a way, I was relieved to know what killed Pascal, but now there is a great deal of concern because people have no idea if they are at risk.”
ANATOMISING ANTHRAX
Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis.
It is principally a disease of herbivores such as cattle, horses, sheep and goats, but can also infect man. No cases of the disease spreading from human to human have been documented.
Anthrax is most common in agricultural regions in South and Central America, southern and eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and Middle East.
Of the 89 known strains of anthrax, the most widely recognized is the virulent Ames strain used in the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States.
When anthrax affects humans, it is usually due to an occupational exposure to infected animals or their products. Anthrax infection can occur in three forms — cutaneous, gastrointestinal, and pulmonary.
Scientists estimate that about 10,000 spores need to be inhaled in order for pulmonary anthrax to occur.
Respiratory infection initially presents with cold or flu-like symptoms for several days, followed by severe — and often fatal — respiratory collapse.
Anthrax spores can survive for long periods of time in the environment after release. Methods for cleaning contaminated sites commonly use oxidizing agents such as peroxides.