Chloroquine Phosphate Intended for Fish: FDA Letter to Stakeholders – Do Not Use as Treatment for COVID-19 in Humans

A MedWatch Safety Alert was added to the FDA Animal and Veterinary Product Safety Information webpage.

TOPIC: Chloroquine Phosphate Intended for Fish: FDA Letter to Stakeholders – Do Not Use as Treatment for COVID-19 in Humans

AUDIENCE: Consumer, Health Professional

ISSUE: The FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine has recently become aware that some consumers may mistake chloroquine phosphate used to treat disease in aquarium fish for FDA-approved drugs (used to treat malaria and certain other conditions in humans) that are being studied as a COVID-19 treatment for humans. Unfortunately, we have learned that one person in the United States has died after he and his wife reportedly took chloroquine used to treat their fish in an attempt to prevent COVID-19; his wife also became very ill.

Our primary concern during the COVID-19 pandemic is the imminent threat to the health of consumers who may take animal drugs thinking they are interchangeable with approved human drugs.