"You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously y'all. Stop it."
You know times have changed, ostensibly for the worse, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) feels compelled to send out a tweet that reads:
"You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously y'all. Stop it."
No, seriously, they really did that.
Central Peninsula feed stores have been getting phone calls about Ivermectin, a drug approved by the FDA to treat people with intestinal strongyloidiasis and onchocerciasis, two conditions caused by parasitic worms.
The Peninsula Clarion reports that Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce is promoting the drug on the radio, and Alaska residents can be found promoting the drug in various Alaska social media groups, and it's now widely reported that Alaska feed stores are out of a livestock dewormer because people purchased it to treat/prevent COVID-19.
Now, I'm not a politician with a political agenda, but I submit to you that unless you're a cow with heartworms, Ivermectin is not the drug for you.
According to the FDA, Ivermectin animal drugs are often highly concentrated because they are used for large animals like horses and cows, which can weigh a lot more than we do—a ton or more. Such high doses of those drugs can be toxic in humans.
In its weekly COVID-19 Alaska Clinical Update, DHSS dedicated an entire section to the dangers of Ivermectin, writing that the drug is "not effective at treating or preventing COVID-19." In addition, DHSS noted that Merck, the drug company that manufactures ivermectin, has said there is:
- No scientific basis for a potential therapeutic effect against COVID-19 from pre-clinical studies;
- No meaningful evidence for clinical activity or clinical efficacy in patients with COVID-19 disease, and;
- A concerning lack of safety data in the majority of studies.
According to East Anchorage Assemblyman Forrest Dunbar on Twitter, the below images were sent out by the Municipality's Emergency Operations Center for distribution.
Hardly surprising is that the drug has been promoted by members of various online social media groups such as 'Save Anchorage,' the inescapable irony being that the Alaskans who once called you a "sheep" for getting vaccinated against COVID-19 are now risking their own lives by ingesting a deworming medication intended for sheep.
Let those things sink in for a few moments before you read this document — a CDC Health Advisory relayed today by The Alaska Section of Epidemiology (SOE) to Alaska health care providers for their immediate attention.
Get the COVID-19 vaccine and have a conversation with the unvaccinated about protecting themselves as well.
