WINNIPEG - Winnipeg health authorities blame tainted cocaine laced with a veterinary drug for landing two people in hospital with a potentially fatal illness.
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said two adults were recently hospitalized with a rare illness called neutropenia that weakens the immune system, leaving them unable to fight off infections. In severe cases, if left untreated, the disease can be fatal.
Pierre Plourde, the authority's medical officer of health, said it appears the patients took cocaine that was laced with a drug used on animals.
"Levamisole is a drug used by veterinarians to rid animals of internal parasites, but is not used in humans," the authority said in a statement. "No one knows why it has been added to cocaine."
It's not the first time neutropenia linked to tainted cocaine has surfaced in Canada. There were 42 reported cases in Alberta and British Columbia between Jan. 2008 and March 2009, including one death.
All were associated with levamisole-laced cocaine.
Neutropenia can be characterized by ulcers, bladder or lung infections, Plourde said.
"Even a dealer you trust may have tainted drugs and not know it," Plourde said in a statement. "Without medical treatment, the condition can lead to death."
Both Winnipeg patients were admitted to hospital in the last two weeks and one has since been discharged.