An Iranian man calling himself an Islamic prophetic medicine healer has prescribed drinking camel urine to prevent and cure COVID-19.
In a video now widely shared on social media Mehdi Sabili who is also the chairman of prophetic medicine society treats himself to camel urine and says it must be taken "fresh and warm".
There has been a strong reaction by many Iranians on social media, ridiculing Sabili and have called such advice dangerous for people.
Some people, mainly in Saudi Arabia and its neighboring regions believe that drinking camel urine will cure ailments. Camel meat and milk are also very popular in these countries.
Since the coronavirus outbreak in Iran in February Islamic medicine men have come up with several highly unusual remedies for COVID-19 including inserting a cotton ball dipped in violet oil in one's anus and less outrageous remedies such as dropping bitter watermelon (Citrullus colocynthis) oil in ears and nose.
In January another such "doctor" caused public outrage by burning a copy of Harrison's Manual of Medicine which is widely taught in Iranian medical universities and claiming that "Islamic medicine" has made such book irrelevant.
Some Iranians believe in the virtues of traditional Iranian medicine which is different from the Islamic medicine.
Nowadays in accordance with the teachings of the traditional medicine many Iranians are taking large doses of fruit and vegetables such as sweet lemons (citrus limetta), lemons, limes, garlic and ginger. The demand for these fruit and vegetables has created such a great market that some people are actually hoarding them for pushing the prices up and greater profit. The price of fresh ginger which is an imported item has gone up by more than five-fold in the past couple of months.
The son of Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi, once named as a possible successor to Khamenei, in December said his father died because he trusted "Islamic medicine" and the so-called "Islamic doctors".
In June 2015 the World Health Organization (WHO) said camel urine could be deadly and urged people to avoid drinking camel urine. Camel urine has been linked with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS) which is also known as Camel Flu.
