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County have increased 11% from
2011 through 2020, while the rate
for opioid related deaths increased
over 60%.
Table 1 shows selected drugs
identified in drug overdose deaths
in Travis County from 2018-2021.
Multiple drugs are identified for
many deaths. Methamphetamine
was identified in 37.3% of the
deaths, while cocaine was identified
in 31.6%. Heroin was the most
common opioid identified followed
by fentanyl. Overall, an opioid was
identified in almost half the deaths.
Figure 2 shows the number
of drug overdose deaths and the
percent involving fentanyl or heroin.
The percent of deaths involving
heroin has decreased, while the
percent of deaths involving fentanyl
has increased. During 2021, fentanyl Citations
1
was the only opioid identified for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic
68% of the deaths with opioid Research, Atlanta, GA
2
Trends and Geographic Patterns in Drug and Synthetic Opioid Overdose Deaths-United States,
involvement. Overall, 62% of deaths 2013-2019, Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:202-207
involving fentanyl during 2018-2021
occurred in 2021. Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Beth Devery, RN, JD and J. Keith Pinckard, MD, PhD
with the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office for providing drug overdose data for this article.

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