The state Department of Health Services has issued a public health advisory to warn of the risks of death from drugs laced with fentanyl. Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake says its a public health crisis and necessary to sound the alarm. Fond du Lac County Public Health Officer Kim Mueller says the advisory is appropriate. “Less than a month ago we put out an advisory that we were seeing an increase in opioid deaths, Mueller told WFDL news. Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s captain Bill Tadych says sheriff’s deputies have made several fentanyl-related arrests this summer. DHS says fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin. Law enforcvement says illegal drug manufacturers use fentanyl to make other drugs more powerful and less expensive to make. Last year synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, were identified in 91 percent of opioid overdose deaths in Wisconsin. The number of fentanyl overdose deaths in Wisconsin shot up 97 percent from 2019 to 2021.
