CESAR's Emergency Department Drug Surveillance (EDDS) system  added xylazine to the urine drug test panels used for CESAR’s National EDDS system late last year. This month, CESAR released a new report summarizing the initial xylazine results. 

Twelve hospitals each provided a one-time sample of 150 de-identified specimens (100 positive for any drug in the hospital's standard test panel and 50 that tested totally negative) that were tested for xylazine. Xylazine was detected in 23 specimens from 6 of the hospitals in the southeastern U.S. – Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Most (87%) of the 23 xylazine positive specimens came from hospital positive specimens. The percentage of hospital positive specimens testing positive for xylazine ranged from  1% to 6% per hospital.  

The average age of the patients who submitted the xylazine positive specimens was 35, with a range of 18-53 years. The median age was 32 years. About one half (52%) came from males. The drug most likely to be detected along with xylazine was any fentanyl, found in 78% of the specimens. Last week, the combination of xylazine and fentanyl was declared an emerging threat by the Biden-Harris Administration.

Cocaine, THC, and amphetamines were each detected in 57% of fentanyl positive specimens, and morphine was found in 44%. Almost all (87%) of the xylazine positive specimens tested positive for 2 or more of these other drugs and 31% contained 4 or more of these 5 drugs.

Text: Xylazine | New EDDS Findings | Study finds 78% of urines positive for xylazine also contained fentanyl