SINCE the outbreak of COVID-19 in Nigeria, many herbal solutions have been recommended for the prevention and treatment of the infection.

However, fact-checks have shown that many of these solutions neither prevent nor treat COVID-19.

Some of the recommended herbal solutions include: consumptions of raw onions and garlic, raw onions mixed with salt, lemon drops and onions, neem leaf (locally known as ‘dongoyaro’ leaf), and Christmas melon (locally known as ‘tagiri’), among others.

In January 2021, while on fieldwork in Ibadan, this reporter encountered a herb seller claiming she had a concoction that could prevent and cure COVID-19. The herb seller at Bode market, a popular herbs market in Ibadan, mentioned tagiri, dongoyaro, cocoa leaf, among other things that she claimed could cure or prevent COVID-19.

“Christmas melon, neem leaf, cocoa leaf, alligator pepper can prevent COVID-19 infection very well. In fact, we had many people who come to buy them daily,” the herbs seller Afobaje Alagbo claimed in the local dialect (Yoruba).

She also narrated how people were constantly coming daily to get these concoctions. She went on to say that the price of herb had gone up.

“Since COVID-19 broke out in Nigeria, the price of Christmas Melon had increased. We used to sell one for N80 ($0.19), but now, one Christmas melon goes for N200 ($0.49),” she said.

When asked about the prescription and how to administer the concoction, Afobaje could not specifically tell the reporter how it could be used. She said in Yoruba: “o depend lori ti eyan ba se mo ise si”, meaning, “it depends on how good one is with herbs.”

Does Christmas Melon have any medicinal importance?

Christmas Melon, a variety of melon family, has its origin from Spain and has been reported in research papers to have medicinal uses, but only to poultry.

According to the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) report on Newcastle disease control, Christmas Melon extract could be used to cure the deadly and contagious Newcastle disease (ND) that attacks poultry birds. The ILRI also said Christmas Melon could be used to ward off viral infections in poultry.

No report or research work shows that Christmas Melon can prevent or cure a human viral infection.

Neem leaf as a cure for COVID-19

Another claim in the chain of herbal solutions for COVID-19 is the use of neem leaf to cure the infection and its symptoms. A TweetDeck advance search, which makes it easy to re-run searches that have previously been completed, was used to track the purveyor of this claim on Twitter in Nigeria.

Keying the phrase ‘COVID Nigeria neem leaf’ into the search button, the query result shows that a Twitter user with handle @godsgrace7353 on May 6, 2020, had linked the Madagascar cure COVID-19 with the neem leaf.

“So I saw the Ingredients used to create the Madagascar COVID-19 remedy, and the neem leaf which is called dongoyaro leaf in the native part of Nigeria is also a leaf used to cure malaria! And other illness, there is nothing harmful in giving this remedy a try,” the user had said without evidence to show that the Madagascar cure was effective.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/fact-checking-claims-that-herbal-solutions-prevent-cure-covid-19/