Animal Dewormers Effective Against COVID-19? FDA Warns "You Are Neither Horses Nor Cows"

The US FDA emphasized that animal-use ivermectin should not be taken by humans. Photo by Twitter

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emphasized on the 21st (local time) that the animal dewormer ivermectin should not be used as a treatment for COVID-19.

On the same day, the U.S. FDA posted on Twitter, "You are neither a horse nor a cow. Stop (taking animal ivermectin)," along with a link to the FDA website explaining in detail why ivermectin, commonly used as an animal dewormer in the U.S., should not be used to prevent or treat COVID-19.

According to the U.S. political media outlet The Hill, the Mississippi Department of Health recently informed local hospitals that calls to poison control centers from people who took animal ivermectin to treat COVID-19 have surged.

In a May 3 post linked on Twitter that day, the FDA said, "We have received multiple reports of patients hospitalized after self-medicating with animal ivermectin used for horses." The FDA emphasized, "Ivermectin has not been approved to treat or prevent COVID-19."

The FDA also stated that it has only approved ivermectin for parasite treatment at specific dosages, adding, "Animal ivermectin and human ivermectin are different. Animal formulations are often highly concentrated and can be toxic to humans."

The FDA further said, "There is a lot of misinformation about (taking animal ivermectin). That is not correct." It warned, "Overdosing on ivermectin can cause vomiting, diarrhea, low blood pressure, allergic reactions, dizziness, seizures, coma, and even death."

Photo by Korea Animal Medicine Association, provided by Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Meanwhile, in South Korea, the sales of fenbendazole, a dewormer used for dogs, surged after claims of its anticancer effects emerged. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety explained that fenbendazole has no clinical trial results for humans and has potential side effects, making its use for cancer patients inappropriate. However, after related content became a hot topic on YouTube in September 2019 and comedian Kim Cheol-min was reported to be taking it, a shortage occurred.