The FDA recently took to Twitter to warn the public that a drug intended for livestock is not a great preventative measure against COVID-19.
“You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it,” the agency tweeted in response to reports that people have been taking ivermectin as a COVID-19 drug.
Intended as a treatment for parasites in cows and horses, ivermectin can cause a number of dangerous side effects in humans including vomiting, pain, neurological disorder and potentially severe hepatitis. The message from the FDA came after the Mississippi Department of Health sounded an alarm bell last week, reporting that 70% of recent poison control calls in the state were related to the drug.
Mississippi has become one of the hardest hit states with COVID-19 with the highest per capita number of cases and the lowest rate of vaccinations.
