Ethnozoological practices in Rodrigues island of the Mascarene archipelago

Animal and their products used for treatment and prevention of disease practiced by traditional healers in Jimma Arjo district, East Wollega Zone, Western Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

Ethiopia is one of the countries with richest fauna used for medicinal purpose. The Jimma Arjo community has knowledge and practice of utilizing this medicinal animal for treatment of human and animal ailments.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this research is to assess animals and their products used for treatment of human and animal ailment METHODS: A cross-sectional ethnozoological survey was conducted using a semi structured questionnaire among purposively selected traditional healers resided in Jimma Arjo district. The data collected was entered in Microsoft excel spread sheet and analysed using SPSS statistical software. Fidelity level (FL), use value and informant consensus factor was determined.

RESULTS

A total of 33 animal species was found to be used for treating 40 human ailments and different livestock disease confirmed by 36 informants of different ages, sexes and educational backgrounds. The majority of animals (63.63%) were mammals followed by birds (15.15%). Most of the respondents were male, married and aged 55 years and above. Most of the healers learn ethnozoological practice from the father (36.11%) followed by mother (19.44%). The traditional practice is accepted by (72.22%) of the community where 61.11% of the healers are not willing to transfer their knowledge to other. For most of the healers, the reason to practice traditional healing was for treating one's own family or animals (41.67%). The FL was found 100% for honey from Apis mellifera and Trigona spp. for asthma, Cynopterus sphinx for viral skin disease and Crocuta crocuta for bad sprit treatment. In this study, honey from A. mellifera, Hystrix cristata and Sus scrofa domesticus were reported to cure different ailments.

CONCLUSION

This study indicated wide use of medicinal animals and their products which could be used as an alternative and complementary medicine or a basis for in developing new drugs because the existing drugs especially antimicrobials are under threat due to the development of resistance by microbes.

A systematic review on traditional medicinal Animal's parts and products used for the treatment of respiratory tract disorders in Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

Respiratory diseases affect more than one billion people worldwide. Although medicinal animals have huge importance in primary health care, limited effort applied so far been in Ethiopia to properly identify, document, and conserve these animals and the related knowledge. This systematic review was aimed to identify the medicinal animals and document reports on the use of medicinal animals for the management of respiratory disorders.

METHODS

Both published and unpublished articles on the ethnozoological use of medicinal animals were searched using electronic database (Science Direct, Pub Med, Google Scholar, Scopus, hinari, and research gate) and institutional repositories. Different keywords were used separately and in combination using Boolean operators "OR" or "AND" as well as medical subject heading [MeSH] terms. Studies that did not address respiratory disorders were excluded. Data were extracted using Microsoft excel spread sheet.

RESULTS

Among 211 articles obtained from database searches, nine articles were eligible and included in the review. Thirty two medicinal animals were reported for treatment of respiratory disorders. Mammals were the most commonly (43.8%) used medicinal animals. Meat was reported as the most commonly (22.6%) used medicinal remedy.

CONCLUSIONS

Most of the medicinal remedies were obtained from mammals and administered orally. As the majority of the medicinal animals were obtained from wild sources, due attention should be given to conserve them. Besides, this traditional medicinal knowledge should be integrated to modern medicine to investigate the acute and chronic toxicity profile and efficacy of these remedies to identify potential lead compounds to modern drugs.

Ethnozoological study of medicinal animals and animals' products used by traditional medicinal practitioners and indigenous people in Motta city administration and Hulet Eju Enessie District, East Gojjam, Northwest Ethiopia

Background

In Ethiopia, many ethnic communities use traditional/indigenous medicine for primary health care. However, this indigenous medicinal practice is being neglected and continued to be lost due to poor documentation as they are transferred from generation to generation through oral tradition. Therefore, this ethnozoological study aimed to assess and document the medicinal use of animals and animals’ products used by traditional medicinal practitioners and indigenous people in Motta city administration and Hulet Eju Enessie Districts, East Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia.

Methods

Cross-sectional ethnozoological survey was conducted using a Semi-structured questionnaire among purposively selected respondents in Motta city administration and Hulet Eju Enessie District, East Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia from September 2020 to June 2021 GC. The ethnozoological data were analyzed using SPSS version 26 and Microsoft Excell Spreadsheet. Fidelity level, use-value, and informant consensus factor were determined.

Results

A total of 25 animal species were reported to be used for the treatment of different ailments by 33 informants. The majority of animals (64%) were mammals followed by birds (16%). The fidelity level ranged from 18.2 (Hyena for bad spirit) to 100% (stingless be for asthma, Tiger for rabies virus, Whisper for nightmare).

Conclusion

This study showed the wide use of medicinal animals and their parts/products for meeting the primary healthcare needs of the community in the study area. Therefore, this ethnozoological medicinal knowledge needs to be integrated with modern medicine to use animals/animals’ products as a potential source of effective drugs for different ailments.

Medicinal Animals and Plants as Alternative and Complementary Medicine in Southern Regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Background: Local communities use animals and plants as common traditional therapies for various diseases. The study aimed to document animals and animal-plant mixture recipes that are used as alternative and complementary medicine in southern regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Methods: The data were collected (2017–2018) in three remote areas (Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, and Lakki Marwat) through questionnaires and face-to-face interviews with local inhabitants. Data on ethnomedicinal uses and cultural values of animal products or parts and their mixture with plants were analyzed using various indices such as frequency of citation (FC), informant consensus (FIC), and fidelity level (FL) to find the highly preferred species in the area.

Results: A total of 185 informants (117 females and 68 males) were interviewed. The study documented 32 animal species, vertebrates (n = 24) and invertebrates (n = 8), for curing 37 types of diseases. Mammals (n = 13) were among the most commonly utilized species followed by birds (n = 8), arthropods (n = 7), reptiles (n = 2), and fishes and annelids (n = 1 each). Among the reported animals, Herpestes edwardsi (mongoose), Macaca mulatta (monkey), Labeo rohita (rohu), Oryctolagus cuniculus (rabbit), and Streptopelia decaocto (dove) were the newly reported species used as alternative medicine. The meat of Capra hircus (goat), monkey, and rabbit was used to treat chronic diseases such as hepatitis C, cancer, epilepsy, and asthma. A total of 17 plants belonging to 15 botanical families were used in combination with animal parts/products. The commonly used families were Piperaceae (31%) followed by Apiaceae (27%). The notable plant species in combination with animal products were Curcuma longa, Piper nigrum, Coriandrum sativum, Brassica rapa, and Phoenix dactylifera. Seeds were the highest used part in animal-plant mixture recipes. Gallus gallus (chicken) and Columba livia (pigeon) secured the highest (FC = 28) and (FL = 80%), respectively. FIC results had shown the highest degree of consensus for general body weakness (FIC = 0.88) and pyrexia (FIC = 0.86).

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that local communities in the southern regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have substantial knowledge about the formulation of ethnomedicines from both flora and fauna that need urgent documentation to avoid eroding and for conservational purposes. The newly reported phytozootherapeutic recipes and animal species can potentially be a source of pharmacologically active constituents and should be checked experimentally for further confirmation.

Zoopharmacology: A Way to Discover New Cancer Treatments

Zoopharmacognosy is the multidisciplinary approach of the self-medication behavior of many kinds of animals. Recent studies showed the presence of antitumoral secondary metabolites in some of the plants employed by animals and their use for the same therapeutic purposes in humans. Other related and sometimes confused term is Zootherapy, which consists on the employment of animal parts and/or their by-products such as toxins, venoms, etc., to treat different human ailments. Therefore, the aim of this work is to provide a brief insight for the use of Zoopharmacology (comprising Zoopharmacognosy and Zootherapy) as new paths to discover drugs studying animal behavior and/or using compounds derived from animals. This work is focused on the approaches related to cancer, in order to propose a new promising line of research to overcome multidrug resistance (MDR). This novel subject will encourage the use of new alternative prospective ways to find new medicines.