TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — Austin-Travis County officials during a news conference on Wednesday warned that five recent overdose deaths are tied to xzlazine, an animal sedative that’s being mixed with fentanyl, cocaine, heroin and other drugs.

What You Need To Know

  • Austin-Travis County officials on Wednesday said five recent overdose deaths are tied to xylazine, an animal sedative that is not approved for use in people

  • The drug, officials said, is often mixed with fentanyl and other drugs to increase feelings of euphoria

  • According to the CDC, the effects of xylazine cannot be reversed by Narcan 

  • Still, the CDC said, Narcan should be administered whenever opioid overdose is suspected 

The drug’s street name is “tranq.”

Travis County Medical Examiner Dr. J. Keith Pinckard said the drug is produced cheaply in China and is not a controlled substance.

Xylazine is often combined with fentanyl and other drugs to create a euphoric feeling. Officials said that because it is not an opiate, its effects cannot be reversed by Narcan, the best-known form of naloxone.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the xylazine is increasingly being found in the U.S. illegal drug supply, so much so that the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy earlier this summer released a national response plan to address the threat of xylazine mixed with fentanyl.

The largest increase of presence of xylazine in drugs tested in labs is in the South, the CDC said.

Although Narcan won’t reverse the effects of xzlazine, the CDC says that it should be administered in any suspected case of overdose to reverse possible opioid effects.