China approves bear bile and goat horn as coronavirus treatment despite ban on wild animals
China, in its quest to find new treatments for COVID-19, has reportedly approved the use of bear bile in an injection to treat coronavirus patients. The move has resulted in backlash from animal activists, who fear that it could undermine efforts to put a stop to wild animal trade, which has been blamed for the emergence of the virus.
China's move comes just weeks after it had banned sale of wild animals for food, citing the risk of diseases spreading from animals to humans. Scientists believe that the novel coronavirus first transmitted from animals like bats to humans in a wet market in Wuhan, China.
The National Health Commission in China, however, issued guidelines in March recommending the use of 'Tan Re Qing' to treat critically ill coronavirus patients. 'Tan Re Qing' is an injection that contains bear bile powder, goat horn, and three other medicinal herbs, the Daily Mail reported. The organization's directive also includes five other traditional Chinese medicine products to be used for COVID-19 patients.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, ever since the onset of the deadly virus, has been eager to promote the use of traditional medicine, saying it should be given equal importance as other treatments being implemented to treat the patients. Bear bile's active ingredient, ursodeoxycholic acid, is reportedly used to dissolve gallstones and treat liver disease in China, however, its effectiveness in treating coronavirus infection has not been proven. According to its producer, the medicine can be used to treat patients with respiratory diseases, including pneumonia, acute bronchitis, and chronic bronchitis.
China, in its battle against the novel coronavirus, has attempted to use both traditional and Western medicine. Activists, however, have said that permitting treatments that use animal products is "both tragic and ironic" considering the deadly virus' outbreak has been linked to the consumption of wild animals.
A spokesperson for the Animals Asia Foundation, Brian Daly, in a statement, said: "We shouldn't be relying on wildlife products like bear bile as the solution to combat a deadly virus that appears to have originated from wildlife."
"Promotion of bear bile has the propensity to increase the amount used, affecting not only captive bears, but also those in the wild, potentially compromising an already endangered species in Asia and across the world," Daly said.
China has been long accused by conservationists of tolerating cruel trade in wild animals as exotic menu items or for use in traditional medicines.
Another deadly strain of coronavirus, Severe Acute Respiratory System (SARS), also possibly originated in bats, according to scientists who claim that the transmission to humans was made through civet cats.
A spokesperson for World Animal Protection, Kirsty Warren, said that there are nearly 20,000 bears being held under cruel conditions in cages in China to cater to demands from traditional medicine suppliers. Bile farming is legal in China, however, its export or treatments made form it are banned under Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
The novel coronavirus infected over 82,000 people in China and more than 3,000 died of COVID-19. Nearly 950,000 people worldwide have been affected by the deadly infection, which has claimed around 50,000 lives.