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LAS VEGAS (KTNV) – You are not a horse. The Food and Drug Administration felt the need to remind Americans on Twitter, after recent reports of people taking animal dewormer to treat or prevent COVID-19.
The medicine is called ivermectin and it is primarily intended to treat parasitic worms in animals. It began to gain interest in humans after the recent publication of a research article describing the effect of ivermectin on SARS-CoV-2. But this research was done in a lab, and the FDA strongly advises against human consumption of ivermectin at this time.
But that doesn’t stop people from trying to get their hands on Ivermectin here in the Las Vegas Valley.
At V&V Tack and Feed, they normally store and sell Ivermectin for use on horses. But right now they’re completely depleted in horse dewormer, and store associate Shelly Smith suspects many of her customers aren’t using it as intended.
“I brought in a gentleman, and it was an older gentleman. He told me his wife wanted him to be on the ivermectin plan. told him it wasn’t safe for you to take it. And he said, “Well, we took it and my only side effect is that I can’t see in the morning. “It’s a big side effect, so you probably shouldn’t be taking it,” Smith said.
Smith says demand for the dewormer started to increase months ago, so she decided to put a warning sign next to ivermectin.
“The first sign came several months ago when you started seeing articles on ivermectin dealing with COVID. So when I was ordering my Ivermectin I noticed our distributors had this [warning], so I thought I’d hook one up as well just so people would know, ‘don’t take that,’ ”Smith said.
Smith says demand for the drug has continued to rise in recent weeks, and she has received 4 or 5 calls from customers a day asking for ivermectin. That’s why Smith hung up a second sign, now requiring customers to present a photo of their horse before they could purchase ivermectin.
“I don’t want people to take ivermectin horse dewormer because it’s horse dewormer. You have to prove to me that you have a horse for me to sell you this product because you shouldn’t take it. This product. It’s not for humans to take. It’s to treat parasites in horses, “Smith said.
Dr AJ Manship of the Desert Pines Equine Center would agree. He does not recommend that any human take ivermectin, and most animals for that matter.
“It can have a lot of serious consequences in humans and even in some veterinary species, especially if the correct dose is not administered. In animals we have seen a lot of neurological diseases, so convulsions, coma, laziness. death from overdose. Many people who own sheepdogs know this. They are very sensitive to this drug and it can kill them. Whenever these drugs are used unintentionally, there is a very high risk complications and it’s just not safe, ”said Dr Manship.
One of the repercussions of people buying all ivermectin is that horse owners no longer need to feed it to their horses. Shelly Smith says she can’t find a single supplier that has ivermectin in stock right now, and she has no guarantee that will change anytime soon.
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