You are not a horse. You are not a cow,” the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tweeted on Saturday alongside a link to a page 
on their website explaining “Why you should not use Ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19.”
According to an alert issued by the Mississippi Department of Health on Friday, 70 percent of all recent calls to poison control in
 the state “have been related to ingestion of livestock or animal formulations of ivermectin purchased at livestock supply centers.”
 Although most callers (85 percent) only reported mild symptoms, one person was advised to seek additional treatment.
“Animal drugs are highly concentrated for large animals and can be highly toxic in humans,” the alert said. Ivermectin is sometimes
 used in humans to treat parasites or scabies, but in much smaller doses than are given to livestock.
The calls have clearly baffled health officials in the state. “I think some people are trying to use it as a preventative which is really
 kind of crazy,” Dr. Thomas Dobbs, Mississippi’s state health officer, said. “So please don’t do that.”
“You wouldn’t get your chemotherapy at a feed store,” Dobbs added. “You wouldn’t treat your pneumonia with your animal’s
 medication. It can be dangerous to get the wrong doses of medication, especially with something meant for a horse or a cow.”
Ivermectin’s efficacy in treating or preventing COVID-19 is everything but proven. Both the FDA and World Health Organization 
have warned against it.