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For the past month or so, store manager Noah Krzykowski has watched new customers trickle into the Irving Feed Store, all looking for the same thing — ivermectin.
Some admit they plan to take it themselves, but others tell Krzykowski it’s for their animals. Either way, he tells customers that he strongly discourages them from taking the medicine.
“You can tell the difference between someone who has cattle and someone who doesn’t,” Krzykowski said, “And we’re seeing a lot of people right now who don’t have cattle.”
Animal feed stores around North Texas have similar stories about ivermectin, the anti-parasitic drug commonly used for deworming livestock. Some people have turned to the drug in an effort to prevent or recover from COVID-19, with cases spiking throughout the region.
Ivermectin has also gained popularity in Latin America, where it can be purchased in pharmacies for just a few dollars. Some conservative media pundits in the U.S. began touting the drug’s effectiveness, with word spreading to social media.
More than a dozen stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth area said they have sold out of the animal medication, with some not knowing when they will receive new shipments. Others said they receive multiple calls each day from people looking for the drug, which comes in paste and injectable forms.
At Walden Farm and Ranch Supply in Weatherford, just west of Fort Worth, ivermectin has been in short supply the last month.
Employee Maggi Lindee said she tries not to ask too many questions but recently approached a customer purchasing injectable ivermectin.
“I said, ‘You’re not going to inject that into yourself, are you?’ ” Lindee said.
The customer laughed and said no. “I just shoot it into my coffee,” the customer added.
Health authorities are urging people to stop taking ivermectin, and poison control centers report calls related to the drug are soaring.
Marcus Cooper, a spokesman for the Texas Medical Association, said taking unprescribed livestock medication is not the answer to COVID-19.
“The solution is to get vaccinated and use the mask,” Cooper told Al Día, The Dallas Morning News’ Spanish-language publication.
On Twitter, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a blunt warning.
“You are not a horse,” the agency said. “You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”
You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it. https://t.co/TWb75xYEY4
— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) August 21, 2021
On Thursday, the Texas Department of Health and Human Services issued a similar warning, saying the drug cannot treat viral infections like COVID-19.
This August, the Texas Poison Center Network has fielded 64 calls from people related to ivermectin, including five calls for children under the age of 6.
Last August, the agency received only two calls about the drug.
From July to August of this year, the agency reported a 150% increase in calls. Although most were experiencing mild symptoms, one-third calls were from people headed to a health care facility or referred to a facility for treatment, the health department said.
“Ivermectin can potentially be very, very dangerous, particularly for small children who are exposed,” said Liz Petty, a Dallas-based public health educator for the Texas Poison Center Network. “In concentrated doses, this drug is meant for large animals, like horses and cattle, not people.”
Ivermectin tablets are prescribed for people in small doses to treat some parasitic worms, or in topical formulations for head lice, according to the FDA. But misuse can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, low blood pressure and allergic reactions.
To keep the medicine in stock, the Irving Feed Store is now limiting the amount of ivermectin people can purchase to one or two boxes, depending on the form.
“We need to make sure we have some for the animals,” Krzykowski said.