Ivermectin is one of the most important compounds created during the last 30 years. It was originally used to treat worms, insects, arachnids, and parasites in animals as a broad-spectrum anti-parasitic drug. It causes neurological damage to the parasites, causing nerve damage and paralysis.  Ivermectin is now currently used as an anti-parasitic in humans as well as animals. It has been used to cure  human diseases such as River Blindness, (onchoncerciasis) a blindness caused by a parasite, lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) a swelling of the limbs caused by parasitic worms, and Strongyloidiasis. By the year 2005, the World Health Organization was able to bring Ivermectin to more than 30 million people per year. In animals, it is considered one of the most effective veterinary anti-parasitic drugs. It is used in heart worm preventative drugs and to cure and prevent parasites affecting the skin, intestines, ears, heart, lungs, liver, stomach, and other organs.