The Butte County Public Health Department is warning that locally available black tar heroin may be contaminated, after a resident who injected the drug developed wound botulism.
The resident remains hospitalized on a respirator, according to a press release from the Health Department.
Black tar heroin has been linked to past outbreaks of the disease, in which a wound becomes infected with Clostridium botulinum — the cause of foodborne botulism — or a closely related Clostridium bacterium, according to the release from the Health Department.
The bacteria multiply in the wound and create a toxin that acts on the nerves.
Symptoms include a progressive symmetric paralysis that begins at the face and head and travels down the body. If left untreated, it is fatal.
Prompt diagnosis and treatment is critical. Wound botulism is treated with antitoxin that must be requested on a case-by-case basis from the Centers for Disease Control through the state Health Department.