Comedian Joe Rogan has COVID-19 and claims to have been treated with a discredited drug

By Doha Madani - NBC News

Comedian Joe Rogan, host of the popular Spotify podcast

The Joe Rogan Experience

, told his millions of followers on Instagram that he has COVID-19 and is taking ivermectin, a drug used in cattle, that health experts they have asked people not to drink.

Rogan uploaded a video to the social network explaining that she tested positive after a live show on Saturday and that she suffered fever and sweats as symptoms of the virus. 

He assured that his treatment consists of monoclonal antibodies and ivermectin, a drug that is not approved for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19 and is generally prescribed to treat parasites in animals such as horses. 

COVID-19: doctor explains the risks of using ivermectin as a treatment against the virus

Feb. 1, 202101: 20

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked people to avoid misinformation and stop believing that such treatment, used in livestock, would help cure COVID-19, citing reports from

multiple patients. who have been hospitalized after self-medicating with ivermectin

.

People who are poisoned by this drug can experience nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, allergic reactions, low blood pressure, dizziness, seizures, coma, or even death, the FDA warned.

Rogan has more than 13 million followers on the social network Instagram and his podcast is the most played program on Spotify.

Joe Rogan at a UFC event on July 9, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Gary A. Vasquez | USA TODAY SportsUSA TODAY Sports / USA TODAY Sports

He had previously been criticized by public health authorities for spreading false information about vaccines.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, America's leading infectious disease expert, said Rogan was wrong in saying that young people did not need to be vaccinated.

On the contrary, Fauci said, they should be immunized so as not to contract the disease or infect those around them.

[

Be careful: there is no proof that ivermectin cures COVID-19

]

"

If you want to be selfish and not worry about the welfare of society

'that's fine', but if you repeat that 'if I get infected I could harm someone else, even if I have no symptoms' that is reason enough to be careful and get vaccinated", said.

Rogan later clarified that he is not against vaccines and that he should not be a source of medical advice. 

"I'm not a doctor," he said in April according to the BBC.

"I am not a reliable source of information, not even for me."