Drug users hospitalized after exposure to deworming medication in cocaine, crack

At least three local drug users were hospitalized this week with life-threatening illnesses after they were exposed to an animal-deworming medication used to dilute cocaine and crack.

One user required extensive surgery and another racked up more than $100,000 in medical bills, according to Public Health — Seattle & King County.

The department Thursday issued an alert aimed at drug-treatment facilities and users to warn about risks associated with the animal drug, called levamisole, which can wipe out white blood cells in humans.

Levamisole is an odorless, tasteless white powder that closely resembles cocaine. "You can't tell if the cocaine or crack is contaminated with levamisole by looking at it," said David Fleming, director of the public-health department. "Don't take a chance and risk your life."

Cocaine users who have consumed levamisole might exhibit serious health symptoms, such as high fever, chills, swollen glands and painful sores on the mouth and anus.

"The contaminant is creating an illness" that resembles rapidly progressive infections, said Bob Wood, AIDS-control officer with Public Health. "But this is not a condition that needs to result in death."

Users exhibiting symptoms should seek treatment at a hospital immediately, he said.

Medical staff at several local drug-treatment facilities said Thursday they had not yet heard about any levamisole cases but were no more concerned than they were about cocaine and crack use in general.

Over the past two years, similar cases have been reported in New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Great Britain, Wood said. The provinces of British Columbia and Alberta in Canada have seen nearly 40 cases — including one death — in the past few months, according to Ottawa Public Health.

Experts believe the levamisole is added in cocaine-producing countries, such as Colombia.

"I have no idea why they're adding it," said Wood, who also said the Drug Enforcement Administration has reported its use in drug-cutting over the past three or four years.

Properties of the drug have been "obscurely reported" in medical literature, Wood said, and its devastating effect on human white blood cells was only discovered last fall.

Experts are unsure why some cocaine and crack users exhibit extreme illness while others don't.

Nearly 200 people died from cocaine-related causes in King County in 2006 and 2007, according to Public Health's most current statistics.

"It's a good time to remind people that cocaine is a dangerous drug," said Wood. "Now, it's dangerous for another reason."

For more information, call the Alcohol and Drug Help Line at 206-722-3700.

Lindsay Toler: 206-464-2463 or ltoler@seattletimes.com