Get our free mobile app

The FDA just took time to remind Minnesotans they're not a horse and they're not a cow, either. So what's up with these seemingly obvious reminders?

You would think that most Americans would be smart enough to know that taking a drug designed for large farm animals would be a bad idea, right? And, to be fair, most Americans (certainly most of us who live here in Minnesota) likely DO know that and wouldn't risk taking a medicine designed for cows and horses.

But enough of our fellow Americans apparently DIDN'T know that fact, and so the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took to Twitter a few days ago to remind Minnesotans-- and Americans in other states-- to NOT ingest these drugs.

According to a post on the FDA's main website, the drug ivermectin is usually used in the treatment of parasitic worms in large animals, like horses and cows. (And, apparently, in some cases, even in humans, with the proper dose and under the proper care of your physician.)

And apparently, ivermectin is also being used in some laboratory tests right now as a  possible therapy ('possible' being the key word here) for COVID-19, under the FDA's Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program. But apparently, some people jumped to the wrong conclusion that taking ivermectin can help treat or prevent COVID-19 RIGHT NOW, and started taking it themselves.

Which, the FDA says, it can't. So you shouldn't take it. Because it's dangerous. Check it out:

While there are approved uses for ivermectin in people and animals, it is not approved for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19. You should not take any medicine to treat or prevent COVID-19 unless it has been prescribed to you by your health care provider and acquired from a legitimate source.

What you CAN do, of course, is make sure you and those in your immediate family are vaccinated, if they're eligible. If you have questions about the vaccine (which is now FDA approved), keep scrolling for a list of answers to 30 common questions. Just leave the ivermectin to the farm animals, OK?

Listen to Curt St. John mornings from 6 to 10 on Quick Country 96.5
and afternoons from 2 to 6 on 103.9 The Doc

LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.

More From KROC-AM