Mississippi anti vaxxers are reportedly taking horse deworming medication in an attempt to fight off Covid, causing an influx of poison control calls due to potential ivermectin toxicity.
The Mississippi Health Department issued an alert Friday to health care providers in the state noting the increased number of such calls.
Around 70 per cent of the recent calls had been related to ingestion of livestock or animal formulations of ivermectin purchased at livestock supply centres, the warning said.
Some 85 per cent of the callers were experiencing mild symptoms after ingesting the formulation, while one individual had been instructed to seek further evaluation due to the amount of ivermectin reportedly ingested.
“Animal drugs are highly concentrated for large animals and can be highly toxic in humans,” the notice continued.
“Do NOT take drugs made for animals in any form. If you need help, call the Mississippi Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222.”
Ivermectin is a medicine typically used as a horse and cow dewormer. While some topical formulations were approved for human use by prescription for the treatment of external parasites, the FDA advised that people should never take animal drugs.
An MSNBC video report on the bizarre trend pointed to a Fox News report as a potential cause.
MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow plays a clip in which a Fox anchor claimed the FDA had “in many ways failed us by not allowing for the use of Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine, both of which are used around the world to avoid Covid hospitalisations and deaths”.
Maddow appeared speechless after the clip had played its course, before stating that Ivermectin was not curing Covid “ around the world” as Fox News had claimed.
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While there had been one study claiming Ivermectin was a viable treatment for Covid, she said this had been withdrawn, as the data was reportedly faked and the introduction plagiarised.
Warnings stating that Ivermectin should not be consumed by humans had been issued by the FDA, the NIH and the WHO, as well as MERCK, the company that produced the drug.
The worrying new issue came as Mississippi hospitals are reportedly packed full, with a rising number of new infections.
According to CNBC reports last month, Mississippi, along with Louisiana, had some of the worst vaccine take up rates and the highest vaccination rates of US states.
According to the state Department of Health, close to 90 per cent of patients in hospitals with Covid from July 22 to Aug 18 were unvaccinated.
A huge number of new infections was said to be swamping the system and had prompted federal government and charitable groups to come in and set up field hospitals in the parking garages of the state’s flagship medical centre.
As of Thursday, only seven ICU beds were available in the state, and 96 patients needed them, according to the state Department of Health.
NBC reports on Friday painted a picture of chaotic hospitals, with patients spilling into hallways and nasal cannulas being brought out to waiting rooms to deliver urgently needed oxygen.
The delta variant began reversing a drop in Covid cases in July, over which the statewide number of people with Covid in ICUs doubled.
The number in hospitals and on ventilators more than doubled.
Mississippi remains second to last in the nation for vaccination rates, NBC reported.
Many in the state had spurned the vaccine due to political beliefs or misinformation, while others were reportedly concerned about their immigration status being exposed.
Mississippi is also the second highest uninsured state in the nation, leaving many residents without access to primary care and a deep-rooted mistrust of the healthcare system.
