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CINCINNATI (AP) — The Latest on a surge in heroin overdoses in several states (all times local):
4:20 p.m.
Officials in several states are scrambling to deal with a series of heroin overdose outbreaks affecting dozens of people and involving at least six deaths.
The spikes in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia over the past few days have seen rescue workers rushing from scene to scene to provide overdose antidote drugs.
It's unclear if one dealer or batch is responsible for the multistate outbreak. But the spikes reflect the potency of heroin now flooding the Midwest.
Police in Cincinnati on Friday asked for the public's help in identifying the source of the heroin behind an estimated 78 overdoses in two days.
One person died in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, following a series of 12 heroin overdoses within hours of each other on Wednesday.
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11 a.m.
Police in Cincinnati are asking for the public's help in finding the source of the suspected heroin behind an estimated 78 overdoses in just two days this week.
Authorities believe the same batch is linked to three recent deaths.
They say there were an estimated 78 overdoses on Tuesday and Wednesday and a total of 174 overdoses in emergency rooms within the past week.
Local officials are calling it a public health emergency.
They suspect a drug used to sedate elephants that is 100 times as potent as the fentanyl (FEHN'-tuh-nihl) could be behind the surge in overdoses.
County leaders on Thursday said they'll seek funding for treatment that would come with expanded response teams.
The teams would offer treatment to people who've overdosed.
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