August 2016 heroin overdose chart

More people died of heroin and fentanyl overdoses in August than any month in the county's history.

(Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- More people died last month from heroin or fentanyl than any other month in Cuyahoga County history, the medical examiner said.

The 52 deaths represent a continuing spike in opioid related deaths in the county. The three deadliest months for opioid deaths have come in 2016.

And there has already been 14 deaths in September from heroin, fentanyl or carfentanil, an elephant sedative some 100 times more potent the fentanyl and 2,500 times more potent than heroin. Carfentanil is now suspected in at least two overdose deaths in Cuyahoga County.

Ten people died of overdoses on the drugs over the Labor Day weekend, the medical examiner said. Those who died in suspected overdoses in September ranged in age from 18 to 59. They were from Lakewood, Cleveland, Moreland Hills, Parma, Olmsted Falls and Brookpark.

In August, 24 of the deaths were Cleveland residents and nine were from areas outside Cuyahoga County. The others were from Bedford, Berea, Brecksville, Cleveland Heights, Euclid, Lakewood, Middleburgh Heights, North Royalton, Parma, Parma Heights, Rocky River and Valley View.

They ranged in age from 20 to 71 years old, the medical examiner said. Thirty-nine were men and 13 were women. Forty-six were white and six were black, according to the medical examiner.

Fifteen of the August deaths came in the first three days of the month.

The county has seen at least 330 overdose deaths this year, which already has dwarfed the 228 who died of overdoses in all of 2015. The medical examiner expects more than 500 overdose deaths by the end of the year.

The county has averaged 11 heroin or fentanyl overdose deaths per week since March.

July deaths were also above normal. Forty-eight people died of heroin or fentanyl overdoses that month, which is the third worst month for opioid deaths for a single month. March had previously been the worst month in county history, with 50 deaths.

Thirty-one people died of heroin or fentanyl overdoses in June, 45 in May, 33 in April, 50 in March, 27 in February and 30 in January, according to the medical examiner's data.