In this June 27, 2016 photo provided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a member of the RCMP opens a printer ink bottle containing the opioid carfentanil imported from China, in Vancouver. Drug dealers have been cutting carfentanil and its weaker cousin, fentanyl, into heroin and other illicit drugs to boost profit margins. (Royal Canadian Mounted Police via AP)

The newest opioid scourge, carfentanil, is starting to show its face in New Hampshire morgues.

Barely a month after New Hampshire saw its first death from the opioid, said to be 10,000 times more potent than morphine, the state’s chief medical examiner has confirmed six deaths caused by the drug, which was developed as a tranquilizer for elephants and other large game.

That grim number, reported Tuesday, is certain to grow, since scores of deaths are still undergoing toxicology tests by the medical examiner’s office.

Emergency officials have been bracing for more fatalities and more overdose calls due to the potency of this drug, which started showing up in New Hampshire last winter.

In Concord, for example, fire Chief Dan Andrus said in April that his department is dealing with an increase of more than 40 percent in overdose calls, compared to 2016.

This rise is particularly disheartening because overdose deaths appeared to be leveling off in New Hampshire last year, after years of increase due to the opioid epidemic.

Carfentanil is so powerful that it can be absorbed through the skin, potentially causing overdoses even in non-users who touch it or even inhale it. This is posing serious problems for first responders to overdose scenes, who must take extra precaution against accidental ingestion.

Opioids such as fentanyl, heroin and now carfentanil are the main or only cause of the vast majority of overdoses in the Granite State.

In 2016, for example, there were 477 overdose deaths statewide, and 420 of them involved opioids. Almost half, or 199 deaths, were caused by fentanyl alone.

Through May 17 of this year, the chief medical examiner’s office has reported 73 overdose deaths in New Hampshire, all but 5 involving opioids. That data is incomplete, however, since 86 other cases are still awaiting toxicology reports.