Health warning as horse de-wormer sells out

A product used for de-worming horses is selling out at local animal product retailers with people believing it can be used to treat or prevent Covid-19.

About a month before the region’s most recent Covid-19 lockdown, Saddlery Warehouse owner Suzanne Inglis noticed they were struggling to keep up with the demand for a horse deworming paste, which contains a product called ivermectin.

“We’ve gone through a four-month supply in just a month,” she says. “It’s pretty much sold out around the country.”

At that time, she didn’t realise the surge in sales had anything to do with Covid-19.

“Someone told me that people were buying ivermectin to treat Covid, so I Googled it,” she says. “It’s actually a thing that people are doing.”

Ivermectin has been championed by some vaccine opponents, however, no clear evidence has emerged of its efficacy in fighting Covid-19.

The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners issued a statement last month warning the public to be smart about misinformation - highlighting untested and unapproved treatments of Covid-19, such as ivermectin.

Dr Bryan Betty, the college’s medical director says at this point “there is no evidence that supports the use of this medicine in the treatment of Covid-19'’.

Suzanne says the ivermectin they sell is for parasitic control and she doesn’t know why people would buy it to treat a virus.

“Now we do the whole ‘this is for horses’ thing when people come in to buy it,” she says. “People buying it for themselves usually ask for ivermectin and don’t buy anything else but might buy 16 tubes. Locals using it for their horses usually ask for horse de-wormer.”

Nelson GP spokesperson Graham Loveridge says he hasn’t heard of local GPs being asked for ivermectin.

“That is probably because people know GPs wouldn’t be willing to prescribe it even if approached.”

He says there is no good evidence ivermectin would be effective against Covid in New Zealand. People in places like Brazil and India are more likely to have intestinal parasites than people in New Zealand and ivermectin is an anti-parasitic medication.

“When they are given high doses of steroids to treat complications of Covid, it may allow parasite numbers to explode. They may do better when ivermectin is given because it treats the parasites,” he says. “Here in New Zealand, we seldom see intestinal parasites.”

Medsafe and the Ministry of Health strongly recommends that ivermectin is not used to prevent or treat Covid-19.

They say if you are worried about catching Covid-19, your best defence is to get vaccinated.

A Ministry of Health spokesperson says ivermectin is approved for very specific doses to treat a limited number of conditions in humans. It is not approved in New Zealand to treat Covid-19.

“It may cause serious harm. In high doses, ivermectin can have serious effects on humans including low blood pressure, worsening asthma, seizures and liver damage.”