“Narcan saves lives by reversing actual or suspected overdose to opioids,” Riverside University Health System CEO Jennifer Cruikshank, who is also serving as the hospital’s interim manager, said Thursday. “PVH plays a role in the critical infrastructure for our community. We are proud to be able to offer this free resource and access point from the hospital.”

Narcan, formally known as Naloxone, is an opioid antagonist nose spray that can arrest the effects of an overdose from fentanyl and other illicit drugs. It’s carried by fire crews and sheriff’s deputies countywide.

Palo Verde Hospital received more than 200 Narcan kits via the California Naloxone Distribution Project.

“A single dose of Narcan is administered as one spray into one nostril,” according to a hospital statement. “Each kit contains two nasal sprayers. Narcan should be stored in a cool, dry place. Given Blythe’s extreme summer heat, residents are strongly advised not to store Narcan in a vehicle, where high temperatures can degrade the medication and reduce its effectiveness.”

Residents can procure a free kit from staff in the hospital’s emergency room, which is the only functioning component of the medical facility, at 250 N. First St.

The hospital is under bankruptcy protection and a six-month management services agreement with the county, which is working to rectify the facility’s ongoing financial and operational challenges.

Without emergency services at the hospital, the area’s roughly 20,000 residents would lose access to “timely treatment for life-threatening conditions where minutes matter,” according to a county statement in January. Outside of the hospital, the nearest option for emergency healthcare is more than 70 miles away.

Preliminary county health department statistics indicated there were 229 suspected fentanyl-related fatalities countywide in 2025, compared to 351 confirmed poisonings in 2024, a roughly 40 percent decline.

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The parasite, Heterobilharzia americana, is a flatworm commonly referred to as liver fluke. Previously found almost exclusively in Texas and other Gulf Coast states, it has never been reported this far west. The worm can cause canine schistosomiasis, an illness that impacts the liver and intestines of dogs. 

“Dogs can die from this infection, so we are hoping to raise public awareness that it’s there,” said UCR nematology professor Adler Dillman. “If you’re swimming in the Colorado River with them, your pets are in peril.”

After learning about cases of the infection in local dogs, Dillman assembled a research team and headed to Blythe, a border town east of Joshua Tree National Park in Riverside County, where the sick dogs had all spent time swimming in the river. 

The infection is driven by the presence of a snail that transmits the worm. The research team collected more than 2,000 snails from the banks of the river. A paper published today in the journal Pathogens describes how the team used DNA to confirm the identity of both the snails and the flatworm. 

“We actually found two species of snails that can support H. americana in the river in Blythe, and we found both snails actively shedding this worm,” Dillman said. “Not only was it a surprise to find H. americana, we also did not know that the snails were present here.”

After transforming itself inside one of the snails, the worm ventures out with the goal of finding a mammal to infect. In this stage it can only survive on its own for about 24 hours. If a dog or a raccoon is in the water, or drinking, then it gets infected. 

“It gets into the veins of the intestinal lining, and that’s where it develops into an adult and mates,” Dillman said. “The presence of the adults in the veins isn’t the problem. It’s the eggs that get into the lungs, spleen, liver, and heart. The immune system tries to deal with it, and hard clusters of immune cells called granulomas form. Eventually the organ tissues stop functioning.”

Once infected, it can be several months before the worst symptoms of the illness appear. Since 2019 in California, 11 dogs in three counties have been confirmed with this disease, and one has died. Health officials hope that with awareness they can prevent further infections and deaths. 

“Symptoms start gradually with a loss of appetite, and eventually include vomiting, diarrhea, profound weight loss, and signs of liver disease. If your dog has these symptoms after swimming in the Colorado River, it’s a good precaution to ask your veterinarian for a simple fecal test,” said Emily Beeler, a veterinarian with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. 

“Treatment typically involves use of multiple medications and close monitoring of the dog by a veterinarian,” Beeler said. 

It is important to note that H. americana is not known to be capable of causing disease in humans. “It can cause swimmer’s itch, a red rash where it penetrates human skin. But it’s not able to cause infection,” Dillman said.

Additionally, Dillman hopes to allay concerns that the parasite could be contaminating urban drinking water. “Compared to other pathogens these worms are fairly large. They can easily be filtered out with common water purification strategies,” he said. Though there is no cause for concern about contamination of water sources, drinking the water directly is still inadvisable. 

“You have viruses, bacteria, and other parasites such as Giardia in rivers,” Dillman said. “Nobody should be drinking straight out of the river, and that has nothing to do with this particular parasite.”

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Coronavirus testing is available again in Blythe for residents of the eastern Riverside County community who want to know whether they have contracted the virus.

Testing started June 10 at the site — 445 N. Broadway Avenue – and will continue for two weeks. Riverside County health officials had previously operated a testing location in Blythe and are returning because there is a need to know the extent of spread in the community and a recent outbreak at a local state prison.

The opening of the Blythe site was one of several changes to the sites made to provide testing services to a wider portion of community. Additional moves include:

-The walk-up sites in Mecca, San Jacinto and Valle Vista outside Hemet have closed.

-A walk-up site at 31215 Wild Meadow Drive in French Valley near Temecula has opened. The location operates Tuesday through Saturday between 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

-A walk-up site at the Edgemont Women’s Club in Moreno Valley, 21640 Cottonwood Ave., will be operate June 17 through June 19 between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Testing at the county-run sites is open to anyone, whether they have symptoms or not, and there are no out-of-pocket costs to individuals. Participants will be asked to provide information about their health insurance, but they will not be charged any share of costs or copay, and will be allowed to get tested even if they do not provide the insurance information. You must have an appointment to get tested.

More than 146,000 coronavirus tests have been conducted in Riverside County, with more than 10,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus. Testing continues to be an integral focus as more residents visit more businesses.

Visit www.rivcoph.org/coronavirus/testing for more information on testing locations and how to make an appointment.

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