At least 9 dead, dozens treated in Texas capital after unusual spike in overdoses

By ACACIA CORONADO
Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas officials are investigating at least nine recent deaths involving an unusual spike of opioid overdoses in Austin. Health officials are calling it the city’s worst overdose outbreak in nearly a decade. Emergency responders in the Texas capital typically field two to three calls per day about overdoses. But officials said at least 65 people required overdose treatment between Monday and Wednesday. They say preliminary testing shows all nine people who died had traces of fentanyl in their system and many had other drugs as well. The largest overdose outbreak in Austin previously was in 2015 and involved a synthetic drug called K2.