A man has become the first in the UK known to have died after taking a powerful sedative known as a “zombie drug”.
Xylazine is used by vets as a tranquilliser for large animals such as horses and cows - and has never been approved for human use as it can cause flesh-rotting sores on takers’ skin.
Also known as tranq, it has caused an epidemic of deaths in the US as it causes skin and muscle rotting away if mixed with illegal drugs such as heroin and fentanyl.
And now an unnamed 43-year-old man has become the first person to die of the dangerous drug in the UK.
His death was announced in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine from King’s College London (KCL), which said he overdosed on a mix of xylazine, heroin, fentanyl and cocaine in May 2022.
A coroner determined the cause of death as acute aspiration pneumonitis, a condition often caused by inhaling toxins, and listed xylazine as a contributing factor.
Dr Caroline Copeland, senior author from KCL and director of the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths, said authorities do not know how widespread xylazine is in the UK as it is not included in standard drug screenings.
She said: “This is a really concerning drug that hasn’t been detected in the UK before.
“This person was likely to have bought heroin and not known it was laced with xylazine and fentanyl.”
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the drug is prevalent in 7% of overdoses across the US.
Those who overdose on xylazine do not respond to any known antidote, according to an FDA warning.
Declaring a "widespread threat", DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said: “Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier.
“DEA has seized xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 states.”
DEA LA Field Division spokesperson Nicole Nishida told The Los Angeles Times : “In the greater Los Angeles area, we are seeing xylazine as an additive within fake fentanyl pills.
“While the numbers are relatively low in our community compared to elsewhere in the United States, the presence of xylazine is now becoming more frequent and the trend is concerning.”
Meanwhile, one addiction expert commented he’s “never seen anything like what we’re dealing with right now.”
One of the worst hit cities in the US for the xylazine crisis is Philadelphia. The drug is behind a terrifying 26 per cent of all overdose deaths in Pennsylvania, the National Institutes of Health reported.
