Alberta feed stores say they’re receiving a deluge of callers asking to buy ivermectin due to misinformation that suggests the livestock dewormer can be used to treat COVID-19 in humans.
Lance Olson, manager of Lone Star Tack & Feed Inc., located just outside of Calgary, said false claims circulating about the animal medication have brought the wrong kind of attention to his business.
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“It’s obviously not intended for human use in any way, shape or form. It’s meant to get rid of worms in horses’ guts … so, these people see that ivermectin liquid, they search it, our website comes up and they give us a call thinking that we can just sell it to them,” Olson said.
“If you don’t know what it is, you probably don’t have animals that you’re going to use this on … given the circumstances surrounding this stuff, it makes it very uncomfortable when people phone … so we’ve taken it off our shelves.”
WATCH | Horse medication ineffective against COVID-19, says specialist:
Horse medication ineffective against COVID-19, says specialist
3 hours ago
Epidemiologist Dr. Christopher Labos says getting vaccinated is a safer and better way to protect against the coronavirus. (Benoit Tessier/Reuters) 1:10
Different forms of ivermectin are used to treat parasites, such as intestinal worms or lice, in both animals and humans.
The form of the drug used on humans is actually on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines because it is safe, inexpensive and effective — and has proven to be life-saving for treating some illnesses caused by parasites.
But, for multiple reasons, the livestock form of the drug should never be used on humans. One reason being that it is dosed for much larger organisms. Also, parasites are not the same as viruses. COVID-19 is caused by a virus.
Touted as possible cure
The largest study in favour of ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment was retracted after concerns about data fabrication, plagiarism and ethical breaches.
Medical journal The Lancet has called for more study on ivermectin’s efficacy to reduce viral load or improve recovery, but said there is no drug that can replace preventative public health policies and large-scale testing for COVID.
No clinical studies have proven yet whether ivermectin can slow or stop the novel coronavirus from growing in human cells — but that hasn’t stopped right-wing media personalities and politicians from touting it as a possible treatment or cure for COVID-19.
These flyers promoting misinformation that claims ivermectin is a treatment for COVID-19 were passed out in Banff, Alta., this week. Feed store owners in southern Alberta say they have received many calls from shoppers attempting to buy livestock dewormer for human consumption. (Andrew Thullier)
In May, Calgary mayoral candidate Kevin J. Johnston — a leader in the COVID-19 denial movement who was recently described by a judge as “dangerous and out of control” when he pleaded guilty to criminal charges — suggested that people visit farm supply stores to buy livestock ivermectin.
Derek Sloan, a controversial Ontario MP who was booted from the Conservative caucus and who is now running in the riding of Banff-Airdrie as an Independent for the upcoming federal election, has described ivermectin as a promising medicine during campaign stops and during debate in the House of Commons.
Former Alberta politician and talk radio host Danielle Smith, who previously falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine cures COVID-19 (it doesn’t), suggested in a recent newsletter that information about ivermectin is being suppressed by Alberta Health Services (AHS) and the College of Physicians and Surgeons.
AHS says its scientific advisory group has conducted a review to explore using ivermectin; the drug is not approved to treat COVID-19 in the province.
The group advises against taking ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment outside of clinical trials.
CBC News spoke with staff at two other feed stores in the Calgary area who confirmed they have been receiving multiple calls about ivermectin each week for months. CBC has agreed not to name the stores out of concern it could impact their business.
One store said at its peak it was receiving requests for one to two online orders per day from out of province, many to downtown Vancouver.
Don’t put things that aren’t tested on humans into yourself. It’s not worth it.– Lance Olson, manager of a Calgary-area feed supply store
Olson said in recent months his feed store’s website has received thousands of searches for ivermectin, nearly seven times as many searches as for the company’s name.
In Alberta, a premises identification number is required for livestock owners to buy animal medications such as ivermectin. But Olson, and another store’s employee, said shoppers still attempt to circumvent that rule.
“Don’t put it in your body,” Olson said. “Don’t put things that aren’t tested on humans into yourself. It’s not worth it. And obviously, the studies are not there yet. So just leave it alone.”
In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control warned the public after increased calls to poison centres with reports of severe illness caused by the medicine. In Georgia, a police officer who took ivermectin for livestock instead of getting vaccinated died of COVID-19, according to a report from Insider.
Feed stores aren’t the only place people are trying to acquire the veterinary medicine.
Dozens of social media posts appear to show Albertans attempting to or successfully acquiring ivermectin from online stores such as Amazon. CBC News has reached out to Amazon Canada to ask if it intends to continue to offer the product and if it will apply a warning label to those listings.
If taken improperly, ivermectin can cause vomiting, diarrhea, low blood pressure, allergic reactions, seizures or even death, according to the U.S. FDA.
Surgeon says patients requesting drug, too
Dr. Michael Chatenay, a general surgeon at Grey Nuns hospital in Edmonton, said last week he treated a COVID-positive patient who asked for ivermectin.
“I was, to be honest, shocked but not surprised because the conspiracy theory websites and social media have been abuzz with this crazy theory,” Chatenay said. “We just tell them that there’s no proven benefit.”
Chatenay said shortly after, another patient made the same request of one of his colleagues.
“It’s worrying,” he said. “For people that are already scared, or are worried about getting vaccinated, they’re looking for and grasping on to these treatments that could potentially be harmful.”
ICYMI: These are the FACTS about Ivermectin:<br>* it’s a drug used to treat/prevent parasites in animals<br>* it’s not approved in <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sask?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Sask</a> for treating or preventing COVID-19 in humans<br>* it’s not an anti-viral (anti-virals treat viruses. COVID-19 is a virus.)<br>* large doses can cause harm <a href=”https://t.co/ovn9yjU7e5″>pic.twitter.com/ovn9yjU7e5</a>
Chatenay said the greatest preventative measure for COVID-19 continues to be vaccination.
Alberta is experiencing a surging fourth wave with nearly 10,000 active cases and a positivity rate over 10 per cent, but just 59 per cent of the province’s total population is fully vaccinated.
“I always try to emphasize that the safest and most well-studied method of preventing COVID infection is vaccination … not only does it help prevent infection, but it helps to reduce your chance of getting severely ill, being hospitalized, being sent to ICU or dying from COVID.”
Montreal Alouettes wide receiver Tyson Philpot has announced he will be out for the rest of the CFL season.
The Delta, B.C., native posted the news on his Instagram page Thursday.
“To Be Continued. Shoutout my team, the fans of the CFL and the whole city of Montreal! I can’t wait to be back healthy and write this next chapter in 2025,” the statement read.
Philpot, 24, injured his foot in a 33-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Aug. 10 and was placed on the six-game injured list the next week.
The six-foot-one, 195-pound receiver had 58 receptions, 779 yards and five touchdowns in nine games for the league-leading Alouettes in his third season.
Philpot scored the game-winning touchdown in Montreal’s Grey Cup win last season to punctuate a six-reception, 63-yard performance.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained a concussion for the third time in his NFL career, leaving his team’s game Thursday night against Buffalo after running into defensive back Damar Hamlin and hitting the back of his head against the turf.
Tagovailoa remained down for about two minutes before getting to his feet and walking to the sideline after the play in the third quarter. He made his way to the tunnel not long afterward, looking into the stands before smiling and departing toward the locker room.
The Dolphins needed almost no time before announcing it was a concussion. The team said he had two during the 2022 season, and Tagovailoa was diagnosed with another concussion when he was a college player at Alabama.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa would get “proper procedural evaluation” and “appropriate care” on Friday.
“The furthest thing from my mind is, ‘What is the timeline?’ We just need to evaluate and just worry about my teammate, like the rest of the guys are,” McDaniel said. “We’ll get more information tomorrow and take it day by day from here.”
Some players saw Tagovailoa in the locker room after the game and said they were encouraged. Tagovailoa spoke with some players and then went home after the game, McDaniel said.
“I have a lot of love for Tua, built a great relationship with him,” said quarterback Skylar Thompson, who replaced Tagovailoa after the injury. “You care about the person more than the player and everybody in the organization would say the same thing. Just really praying for Tua and hopefully everything will come out all right.”
Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212 million extension before this season — a deal that makes him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL — and was the NFL’s leading passer in Week 1 this season. Tagovailoa left with the Dolphins trailing 31-10, and that was the final score.
“If you know Tua outside of football, you can’t help but feel for him,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said on Amazon following the game. “He’s a great football player but he’s an even greater human being. He’s one of the best humans on the planet. I’ve got a lot of love for him and I’m just praying for him and his family, hoping everything’s OK. But it’s tough, man. This game of football that we play, it’s got its highs and it’s got its lows — and this is one of the lows.”
Tagovailoa’s college years and first three NFL seasons were marred by injury, though he positioned himself for a big pay bump with an injury-free and productive 2023 as he led the Dolphins into the playoffs. He threw for 29 touchdowns and a league-best 4,624 yards last year.
When, or if, he can come back this season is anyone’s guess. Tagovailoa said in April 2023 that the concussions he had in the 2022 season left him contemplating his playing future. “I think I considered it for a time,” he said then, when asked if he considered stepping away from the game to protect himself.
McDaniel said it’s not his place to say if Tagovailoa should return to football. “He’ll be evaluated and we’ll have conversations and progress as appropriate,” McDaniel said.
Tagovailoa was hurt Thursday on a fourth-down keeper with about 4:30 left in the third. He went straight ahead into Hamlin and did not slide, leading with his right shoulder instead.
Hamlin was the player who suffered a cardiac arrest after making a tackle during a Monday night game in January 2023 at Cincinnati, causing the NFL to suspend a pivotal game that quickly lost significance in the aftermath of a scary scene that unfolded in front of a national television audience.
Tagovailoa wound up on his back, both his hands in the air and Bills players immediately pointed at him as if to suggest there was an injury. Dolphins center Aaron Brewer quickly did the same, waving to the sideline.
Tagovailoa appeared to be making a fist with his right hand as he lay on the ground. It was movement consistent with something that is referred to as the “fencing response,” which can be common after a traumatic brain injury.
Tagovailoa eventually got to his feet. McDaniel grabbed the side of his quarterback’s head and gave him a kiss on the cheek as Tagovailoa departed. Thompson came into the game to take Tagovailoa’s spot.
“I love Tua on and off the football field,” Bills edge Von Miller said. “I’m a huge fan of him. I can empathize and sympathize with him because I’ve been there. I wish him the best.”
Tagovailoa’s history with concussions — and how he has since worked to avoid them — is a huge part of the story of his career, and now comes to the forefront once again.
He had at least two concussions during the 2022 season. He was hurt in a Week 3 game against Buffalo and cleared concussion protocol, though he appeared disoriented on that play but returned to the game.
The NFL later changed its concussion protocol to mandate that if a player shows possible concussion symptoms — including a lack of balance or stability — he must sit out the rest of the game.
Less than a week later, in a Thursday night game at Cincinnati, Tagovailoa was concussed on a scary hit that briefly knocked him unconscious and led to him being taken off the field on a stretcher.
His second known concussion of that season came in a December game against Green Bay, and he didn’t play for the rest of the 2022 season. After that, Tagovailoa began studying ways where he may be able to fall more safely and protect himself against further injury — including studying jiu-jitsu.
“I’m not worried about anything that’s out of my hands,” McDaniel said. “I’m just worried about the human being.”
NEW YORK (AP) — When her husband turns on the television to hear news about the upcoming presidential election, that’s often a signal for Lori Johnson Malveaux to leave the room.
It can get to be too much. Often, she’ll go to a TV in another room to watch a movie on the Hallmark Channel or BET. She craves something comforting and entertaining. And in that, she has company.
While about half of Americans say they are following political news “extremely” or “very” closely, about 6 in 10 say they need to limit how much information they consume about the government and politics to avoid feeling overloaded or fatigued, according to a new survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts.
Make no mistake: Malveaux plans to vote. She always does. “I just get to the point where I don’t want to hear the rhetoric,” she said.
The 54-year-old Democrat said she’s most bothered when she hears people on the news telling her that something she saw with her own eyes — like the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — didn’t really happen.
“I feel like I’m being gaslit. That’s the way to put it,” she said.
Sometimes it feels like ‘a bombardment’
Caleb Pack, 23, a Republican from Ardmore, Oklahoma, who works in IT, tries to keep informed through the news feeds on his phone, which is stocked with a variety of sources, including CNN, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press.
Yet sometimes, Pack says, it seems like a bombardment.
“It’s good to know what’s going on, but both sides are pulling a little bit extreme,” he said. “It just feels like it’s a conversation piece everywhere, and it’s hard to escape it.”
Media fatigue isn’t a new phenomenon. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in late 2019 found roughly two in three Americans felt worn out by the amount of news there is, about the same as in a poll taken in early 2018. During the 2016 presidential campaign, about 6 in 10 people felt overloaded by campaign news.
But it can be particularly acute with news related to politics. The AP-NORC/USAFacts poll found that half of Americans feel a need to limit their consumption of information related to crime or overseas conflicts, while only about 4 in 10 are limiting news about the economy and jobs.
It’s easy to understand, with television outlets like CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC full of political talk and a wide array of political news online, sometimes complicated by disinformation.
“There’s a glut of information,” said Richard Coffin, director of research and advocacy for USAFacts, “and people are having a hard time figuring out what is true or not.”
Women are more likely to feel they need to limit media
In the AP-NORC poll, about 6 in 10 men said they follow news about elections and politics at least “very” closely, compared to about half of women. For all types of news, not just politics, women are more likely than men to report the need to limit their media consumption, the survey found.
White adults are also more likely than Black or Hispanic adults to say they need to limit media consumption on politics, the poll found.
Kaleb Aravzo, 19, a Democrat, gets a baseline of news by listening to National Public Radio in the morning at home in Logan, Utah. Too much politics, particularly when he’s on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram, can trigger anxiety and depression.
“If it pops up on my page when I’m on social media,” he said, “I’ll just scroll past it.”
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Sanders reported from Washington. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder.
The AP poll of 1,019 adults was conducted July 29-August 8, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.
