ALERT: Texas sees 550% spike in poison calls for horse and cow dewormer [Ivermectin]

BURLESON, Texas — Inside 731 Farm Store in Burleson, Matt Meredith has taped up a warning from the FDA about ivermectin.

“Not for human consumption. It says it on the bottle,” Meredith said. “It’s for deworming cattle, deworming horses.”

Many people have started taking it to treat or prevent COVID-19, despite an FDA warning titled “Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19".

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Meredith said. “Even through swine flu and all that, nothing like this.”

“Some of the most common effects that you can see... are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,” said Liz Petty at the North Texas Poison Center.

The North Texas Poison Center reports they’ve received 52 poisoning calls for ivermectin this year, compared to six through August of last year.
The numbers are increasing, too. Sixteen of the 52 calls this year have been in August. In August of 2020, Texas received two reports about ivermectin poisoning statewide. This August, they’ve received 55.

Last year, the state received 23 ivermectin reports from January through August. This year, there have been 150, an increase of 552%.

Petty believes it’s likely underreported because it’s self-reported.

“It's sometimes a little difficult for us from the poison center to really grasp, you know why people are using things outside of their intended use,” she said. “It definitely could potentially spiral out of control if the misinformation still continues to circulate out in the public.”

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