Cow dung, urine don't prevent Covid-19, can cause infections: Doctors

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That senior doctors have to talk to health workers telling them not to smear their bodies with cow dung and cow urine is more than a bizarre tale. This is the strange and dangerous reality currently being reported from cow shelters in Gujarat, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah hail. That cow dung and cow urine have some ‘curative’ or medicinal powers is a belief that still holds strong among many in India, and is often supported by the right-wing groups who see it as an important part of their agenda.

As the country continues to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic that has now reached cities and villages even as it continues to wreak havoc in big cities, some in Gujarat believe taking a bath in cow excreta will ‘protect’ them from Coronavirus. According to a report in Reuters, people have been going to cow shelters to smear themselves with ‘packs’ made of cow dung and cow urine because they believe this “will boost their immunity against, or help them recover from, the coronavirus.”

Doctors, however, have warned that this mixture will give “no protection from the coronavirus” and that it “may cause other infections including mucormycosis or black fungus.” The news report quoted Gautam Manilal Borisa, an associate manager at a pharmaceuticals company, who claimed “even doctors” undertake this cow dung therapy. He claimed that this “practice helped him recover from Covid-19 last year” and he continues to undergo it at the Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul Vishwavidya Pratishthanam. Reuters photos show how a group of men sit smeared with the dung and urine mixture and then wash it off with milk.

Doctors in India are warning against covering one’s body in cow dung and urine in the belief it will ward off COVID-19, saying there is no scientific evidence for its effectiveness and that it risks spreading other diseases. More photos: https://t.co/g2rTla2PUx ? Amit Dave pic.twitter.com/3WpULYndxA
— Reuters Pictures (@reuterspictures) May 11, 2021

The report quotes Dr JA Jayalal, national president, Indian Medical Association, debunking this practice saying, “There is no concrete scientific evidence that cow dung or urine work to boost immunity against Covid-19, it is based entirely on belief,” adding “there are also health risks involved in smearing or consuming these products – other diseases can spread from the animal to humans.”

This comes close on the heels of a disturbing video of a man attempting to pour a yellow liquid, that was allegedly cow urine, or gau mutra, down the throat of a woman who is hooked to a ventilator. This incident came to light in the last week of April, and the questions were raised on how did the man even manage to get into a ward and administer the liquid to a seriously ill female patient.

According to another news report a Covid-19 isolation centre at Tetoda village in Deesa taluka of Banaskantha district, Gujarat is reportedly “treating” patients based on “ayurvedic medicines made of cow urine, dung, milk, ghee and curd” called “Panchagavya” or five elements/ essences from cows, along with allopathic medicines. It was reported by the Deccan Herald that this “centre is being run in a gaushala or cowshed that has over 5,000 cows managed by a trust ‘Rajaram Gaushala Ashram’ and is named “Vedalakshana Panchagavya Ayurvedic Covid Isolation Centre.”