Americans are being warned to stop taking a drug meant for deworming livestock in an effort to treat and prevent Covid as it could cause hepatitis.
The US Food & Drug Administration said it has received multiple reports of people needing urgent medical care after taking high doses of ivermectin, an anti-parasitic medication intended for farm animals.
The drug is highly toxic and can cause sickness, as well as neurologic disorders, and potentially severe hepatitis requiring hospitalisation.
The FDA tweeted: "You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it."
It added: "There’s a lot of misinformation around, and you may have heard that it’s okay to take large doses of ivermectin. That is wrong."
In a statement on the organisation's website it said: "There seems to be a growing interest in a drug called ivermectin to treat humans with Covid-19.
"Ivermectin is often used in the U.S. to treat or prevent parasites in animals.
"The FDA has received multiple reports of patients who have required medical support and been hospitalised after self-medicating with ivermectin intended for horses."
Meanwhile, Mississippi The Mississippi State Department of Health issued a warning on Friday that the Mississippi Poison Control Center had received a surge in calls about residents taking the formulation.
It said at least 70 percent of reports involved people having purchased ivermectin at livestock supplier centres.
There are human uses for the drug in certain quantities but the FDA has not approved it to treat or prevent Covid, the department said.
"Patients should be advised to not take any medications intended to treat animals and should be instructed to only take ivermectin as prescribed by their physician," the alert said.
"Animal drugs are highly concentrated for large animals and can be highly toxic in humans.
"Some of the symptoms associated with ivermectin toxicity include rash, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, neurologic disorders, and potentially severe hepatitis requiring hospitalisation."
The alert also added that while the majority of callers had mild symptoms one person had consumed so much of the drug they told to seek further evaluation.
The FDA previously warned Americans against taking the drug.
In March, it said: "Taking large doses of this drug is dangerous and can cause serious harm."
It comes as US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy criticised social media in helping to spread Covid misinformation on Sunday.
