When Laura Harbin needed to deworm her horses, it took her three trips to three different stores to find ivermectin, an antiparasitic commonly used to control worms in horses. When she finally found some, it cost her $6.49 for a single-dose tube — almost triple what she normally pays. “Everywhere [the price] has gone up. Feed stores, even online,” she told BuzzFeed News. “It’s been hard to find everywhere since last summer, but it’s gotten worse.”
Harbin is hardly alone. Several other horse owners in a large Facebook group from around the country told BuzzFeed News that they have seen similar increases in ivermectin prices — $8 instead of $5, for example. That might not seem significant, but for someone like Hardin, who owns 15 horses who use it twice a year, it can add up.
Ivermectin has been used for humans for decades, particularly for tropical diseases caused by parasitic infections. In recent months, there’s been a surge of interest in the drug based on studies (one of which seems badly flawed) claiming it can prevent and treat COVID. The FDA has warned that ivermectin is not approved for COVID use and that trials are still ongoing. (So far, there is no evidence it is effective.)
But some people whose doctors have refused to prescribe ivermectin for COVID have resorted to taking the animal version. For horses, there are edible pastes as well as liquids to ingest. Other animals take it in injectable forms. The problem is that the dosages for animals are different, and ivermectin can be toxic if taken in the wrong amount. The CDC recently reported that someone ended up in the ER after drinking liquid injectable ivermectin meant for cows.
