Coronavirus and “Alternative” Treatments
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses found in many different species of animals, including camels, cattle, and bats. The new strain of coronavirus identified as the cause of the outbreak of respiratory illness in people first detected in Wuhan, China, has been named COVID-19. (Formerly, it was referred to as 2019-nCoV.) Rarely, animal coronaviruses jump species and infect people, and then possibly spread between people, such as with MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, and now with COVID-19. The media has reported that some people are seeking “alternative” remedies to prevent infection with COVID-19 or to treat the virus. Some of these purported remedies include herbal therapies and teas. There is no scientific evidence that any of these alternative remedies can prevent or cure the illness caused by COVID-19 . In fact, some of them may not be safe to consume.1 While scientists at NIH and elsewhere are evaluating candidate therapies and vaccines to treat and prevent the novel coronavirus,