Purpose: To evaluate the ethnoveterinary uses of cow by-products from Nigeria and South Africa.
Methods: A field survey was conducted from January to September, 2015 by conducting interviews
with 110 respondents who provided information in respect of the use of cow urine, bile and dung in their
folk medicine in Nigeria and South Africa.
Results: Most respondents opined that urine therapy is effective in treating convulsion (50 %), viral
infections (29.2 %), and rheumatic arthritis (14.6 %) in Nigeria. In South Africa respondents are of the
view that urine is highly effective (28.6 %) in treating diarrhoea while 14.3 % stated that urine can treat
fever, sore throat, skin infections. Bile is commonly used in treating general body pain and high blood
pressure in Nigeria and used for skin burns in South Africa. Cow dung is specifically used in both
countries as pesticides, fertilizers, anti-toxins and treating skin infections. This study documents the
ethnoveterinary uses of axon
B. taurus
by-products by traditional practitioners in Nigeria and South Africa.
Conclusions: There is need for further studies to validate the therapeutic potential of these products with
regards to each of the ailments listed and isolation of the bioactive compounds in African species of
B.
taurus by-products.
