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Doctors in India have urged people not to smear themselves with cow poo in an effort to ward off coronavirus.

Medical officials said there is no scientific evidence behind the practice and warned that it risks spreading other diseases.

It comes as the health emergency in the country becomes increasingly desperate, with 22.66 million Covid-19 cases and 246,116 deaths reported so far – though experts say the true figures could be some five to 10 times higher.

Patients across the country are facing major shortages of hospital beds, oxygen, and medicines, leaving many to die because of a lack of treatment.

In the western state of Gujarat, some people have turned to cow shelters to cover their bodies in cow dung and urine once a week, in the hope that it will boost their immunity or help them recover from the virus.

Cows are considered sacred in India, with the animal a symbol of life and the earth in the Hindu faith.

For centuries, Hindus have used cow dung to clean their homes and for prayer rituals, believing it has therapeutic and antiseptic properties.


Gautam Manilal Borisa, an associate manager at a pharmaceuticals company, claimed the practice had helped him recover from Covid last year.

He said: ‘We see … even doctors come here. Their belief is that this therapy improves their immunity and they can go and tend to patients with no fear.’

Mr Borisa has since been a regular at the Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul Vishwavidya Pratishthanam, a school run by Hindu monks near the Indian headquarters of Zydus Cadila, which is developing its own vaccine.

As people wait for the poo and urine mixture on their bodies to dry, they hug or honour the cows at the shelter, and practice yoga to boost energy levels. The mixture is then washed off with milk or buttermilk.

Doctors and scientists across the globe have repeatedly warned against alternative treatments for Covid-19, saying they can often lead to a false sense of security and complicate health problems.

Dr JA Jayalal, national president at the Indian Medical Association, said: ‘There is no concrete scientific evidence that cow dung or urine work to boost immunity against Covid-19, it is based entirely on belief.

‘There are also health risks involved in smearing or consuming these products – other diseases can spread from the animal to humans.’

There are also fears that the practice could spread the virus because it involves people gathering in groups, though some centres are taking measures to avoid crowding.

Meanwhile, Covid patients in India are being diagnosed with a rare and deadly ‘black fungus’ infection, in the latest bleak development in the country’s health crisis.

*METRO