LAS VEGAS (KTNV) – You are not a horse. The Food and Drug Administration deemed it necessary to remind Americans on Twitter after it was recently reported that people were taking an animal deworming drug to treat or prevent COVID-19.
The drug is called ivermectin and is primarily intended to treat parasitic worms in animals. It began to pique people’s interest after a recent research article was published describing the effects of ivermectin on SARS-CoV-2. However, this research was done in the laboratory and the FDA is currently strongly advising against consuming ivermectin in humans.
But that doesn’t stop people from getting ivermectin here in the Las Vegas Valley.
V&V Tack and Feed normally store and sell ivermectin for use on horses. But right now the horse dewormer is completely sold out, and store clerk Shelly Smith suspects that many of her customers are not using it as intended.
“I had a gentleman coming in and he was an elderly gentleman. He told me that his wife wanted him to be on the ivermectin plan. I brought him here immediately because I was hanging this sign back then and I told him you can’t take this for safe. And he says, ‘Well we took it and my only side effect is that I can’t see anything in the morning.’ That’s a big side benefit, so you probably shouldn’t be taking it, “said Smith.
Smith says the demand for the worming drug increased months ago, so she decided to put a warning label next to the ivermectin.
“The first sign came a few months ago when you started seeing articles about ivermectin as a treatment for COVID. So when I ordered my ivermectin, I noticed our dealers had it.” [warning]so I figured, get me hung up too, just to let people know, ‘don’t take this,’ ”said Smith.
Smith says demand for the drug has continued to rise over the past few weeks, and she receives 4 or 5 customer calls every day asking about ivermectin. Because of this, Smith put up a second sign that now requires customers to show a picture of their horse before they can buy ivermectin.
“I don’t want people to take ivermectin horse wormer because it’s horse wormer. You have to prove to me that you have a horse so I can sell you this product because you shouldn’t be taking this product. This is not for humans This is used to treat parasites in horses, “said Smith.
Dr. AJ Manship from the Desert Pines Equine Center would agree. He does not recommend ivermectin for humans and most animals.
“It can have many serious consequences in humans and even in some animal species, especially if the correct dose is not given. We have seen many neurological diseases in animals, including seizures, coma, death in the event of an overdose. Many people who own German Shepherds will be familiar with this. They are very sensitive to this drug and it can kill them. Any time these drugs are accidentally used there is a really high chance of complications and it just isn’t. sure, “said Dr. Manship.
One of the consequences of buying up all of the ivermectin is that horse owners can no longer give their horses anything. Shelly Smith says she can’t find a single supplier that has ivermectin in stock right now, and she has no guarantee that this will change anytime soon.
