<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/in-bear.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/in-bear.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273 400w, https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/in-bear.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551 800w" > An Asian black bear. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng/IANS)

The novel coronavirus disease COVID-19, which emerged in China’s Wuhan back in December 2019 and has since spread all around the world, has claimed more than 24,000 lives so far. The pandemic has also managed to attract more eyeballs towards the wildlife trade and consumption in China than ever before.

Ever since the attention, China has faced enormous pressure from Chinese citizens as well as people from round the globe to end the use of wildlife as a resource. Subsequently, on February 24, 2020, the Chinese government finally began laying the groundwork to impose a permanent ban on the trade and consumption of live wild animals for food.

However, the trade of wild animals for medicine, pets, and scientific research will still carry on in China, although it will be subject to “strict” approval and quarantine procedures.

Now, the Chinese government appears to have approved one such procedure, wherein it has recommended the use of Tan Re Qing, an injection that contains bear bile (fluid that aids digestion in bears), as part of multiple treatments for severe and critical COVID-19 cases, reports National Geographic.

The Tan Re Qing injection has been used by traditional Chinese medicine practitioners to treat bronchitis and upper respiratory infections. It consists of bear bile, which is secreted by the animal’s liver and stored in the gallbladder. For centuries, China has been extracting bile from various species of bears, including Asiatic black bears and brown bears, through excruciating methods such as inserting a catheter, syringe, or pipe into their gallbladder.

The bile contains high levels of ursodeoxycholic acid, also known as ursodiol, which is clinically proven to help dissolve gallstones and treat liver disease. In fact, ursodeoxycholic acid has been used as a synthetic drug worldwide for decades.

However, Clifford Steer, a professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, US, has told National Geographic that there is no evidence that bear bile can effectively treat COVID-19. In fact, it may worsen the patient’s condition, as the acid’s ability to keep cells alive “may alleviate symptoms of COVID-19 because of its anti-inflammatory properties and ability to calm the immune response”.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) continues to maintain that there currently exists no cure for COVID-19. However, some medicines, such as pain relievers and cough syrup, can treat some of the symptoms associated with the disease.

Nevertheless, with the promotion of potentially “coronavirus-curing” traditional medicines that, apart from bear bile, also contain animal parts like rhino and buffalo horns, China continues to send mixed messages as far as wildlife consumption is concerned.

And at the end of the day, wildlife farms, irrespective of whether they serve the purpose of food or medicine, continue to pose great health risks and threaten the next potentially devastating virus outbreak.