Ebola: Bitter Kola Stops Replication Of Virus, Not A Cure A Professor of Pharmacognosy, Maurice Iwu, whose publication about the potency of Garcinia Kola (Bitter Kola) in reducing the replication of the Ebola Virus has become popular since the outbreak of the disease, has reiterated that the Bitter Kola is not a cure for Ebola, as rumoured in some parts of Nigeria. Since the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria in July, Bitter Kola has become a commodity that many Nigerians want to have in their pockets or bags and eat it at intervals, as a result of the rumour that it could cure Ebola. Professor Iwu had, in an article published in 1999, established that Garcinia Kola had a compound, Kola extract, that was able to arrest the replication of the Ebola Virus. “It was not a cure but that was a big hope because it was just five years after Kikwit, a province in Congo had cases of Ebola outbreak. “We were so happy about it and when I was given an award in Saint Louis Missouri, the entire hall came to a halt when we announced that this compound is able to do this. “Before then, there was nothing of such and there was not even an animal that we know that can withstand the virus,” Professor Iwu said. He, however, stressed that the research, carried out by a group established in 1985, interested in disease hunting, also showed that Garcinia Kola had the ability to boost the immune system which was necessary to boost an Ebola patient’s chances of recovery.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 22:48:32 +0000
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