“Cow Dung Was Likely Behind The ‘Black-Fungus’ Epidemic That Maimed Thousands In India In 2021,” Medical Researchers

“Cow dung, widely used as a fuel and in rituals in India, is likely behind an epidemic of black fungus that killed or maimed thousands of patients treated in the country for Covid-19 in 2021,” say medical researchers.

Black Fungus aka Mucormycosis is a dangerous infection which is caused by the Mucorales fungi with mortality rate of nearly 54%, a dungloving group of fungi known as corophilous thrives on the excreta of herbivores, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

India reported 51,775 cases of Black Fungus as of November 2021 data. The country declared Mucormycosis as an endemic in May 2021 amid the second catastrophic wave of coronavirus in 2021. India reported 71% cases of Mucorales infection cases and worldwide.

The research paper was published in mBio in April. mBio is a journal of the American Society for Microbiology which hypothesized, “Mucorales-rich cow excrement, given its use in multiple Indian rituals and practices, especially during the pandemic, probably played a key role in India’s Covid-19- associated mucormycosis epidemic”.

Jessy Skaria, an author of the paper and an independent researcher from Huston, Texas told SciDev.Net about the mucormycosis in India and its attribution by the most of the physician and researchers of a combination of SARS-Cov-2 viral infection with diabetes and treatment using steroids.

Skaria explained, “However, since the same factors existed in other countries as well, we looked at unique local causes in India that could increase exposure to Mucorales spores, such as through fumes from burning cow dung. Increased fungal spore burden in the Indian environment has been demonstrated in a recent multi-centre study which showed the burden of Mucorales in areas close to hospitals to be as high as 51.8%.”

She further explained, “Fungal spores disperse widely through the smoke of burning biomass, so the practise of burning Mucorales-rich cow dung and crop stubble to dispose of it may lead to Mucorales spores being released into the environment. This could potentially explain India’s disproportionate case burden of mucormycosis at all times, even before the pandemic.

She cited studies suggesting that Mucorales could be detected in 14% of patients in India’s intensive care units and that an average of 65,500 deaths a year were attributable to mucormycosis.

India is a country who adheres and worship cow as a holy animal. Indian has over 30 crore bovine cattle. Many Hinduism followers use cow-dung cakes to cover their homes in rural areas to cool down their house temperature. Many Hindus believe that drinking cow-urine and burning and inhaling cow dung fumes as a form of ritual purification during festivals, prayers, or cremations which can result into curing health diseases and bringing prosperity.

This rhetoric claim is backed by the many famous Hindu politicians and yogis without any scientific proofs which inspired many Indian to adhere it. Hinduism followers also believe in curing skin diseases by bathing from cow-dung.

During the time of Covid-19 waves many Hindu followers drank cow-urine and bathed in cow-dung in a belief to cure coronavirus. Many cases of diseases related to cow-dung were reported after the act.

Skaria also gave evidence to the relation of cow excreta and mucormycosis, “Notable exceptions are Kerala and West Bengal where the incidence of mucormycosis was far lower than in Maharashtra and Gujarat where the slaughter of cattle is strictly banned and where the use of cow excreta for fuels and rituals is popular,” said Skaria. “It is hugely pertinent that in Kerala where there is no ban on slaughtering cows and no taboo on eating beef… and where cow dung is almost never used as fuel…the incidence of mucormycosis was found to be low.”