Traditional Medicine Practice in the Context of COVID-19 Pandemic: Community Claim in Jimma Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia

Figures & data

Figure 1 Sampling framework.

Table 1 Sociodemographic Characteristics of Participants

Characteristics	Frequency (%)
Age (mean ± SD)	38.4905 ± 19.26
Sex
Male	226 (53.6)
Female	196 (46.4)
Religion
Muslims	307 (72.7)
Orthodox	85 (20.1)
Protestant	30 (7.1)
Marital status
Married	355 (84.1)
Single	50 (11.8)
Widowed	14 (3.3)
Divorced	3 (0.7)
Level of education
No formal education	147 (34.8)
Some primary education	116 (27.5)
Completed primary education	51 (12.1)
Diploma certificate	40 (9.5)
Completed secondary education	33 (7.8)
Bachelors	35 (8.3)
Occupation
Farmers	164 (38.9)
Self employed	118 (28.0)
Government employed	69 (16.4)
Others	71 (16.8)
Number of family (mean ± SD)	4.61 ± 1.85

Table 2 Traditional Medicine Practice for COVID-19 in Jimma Zone During the Outbreak

	Frequency (%)
Do you ever use traditional medicine for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 since its outbreak?
Yes	195 (46.2)
No	227 (53.8)
Do you believe that spiritual healers can treat COVID-19 cases?
Yes	135 (32.0)
No	212 (50.2)
I do not know/not sure	75 (17.8)
Do you believe that traditional healers can treat COVID-19 cases?
Yes	123 (29.1)
No	192 (45.5)
I do not know/not sure	107 (25.4)

Table 3 Detailed Description of Traditional Medicines Claimed by the Community for the Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19

No.	Local/Vernacular (English Name)	Family	Part of Plant Used	Dosage Form Used	Route of Administration	Method of Preparation	Duration of Treatment	Frequency of Use/Day	RFC	Source of Plant
1	Loomii (lemon)	Rutaceae	Juice	Liquid	Oral	The juice is mixed with cold water and drink as it is OR The juice is boiled with tea and drink it OR the drink the juice as it is	1–14 days, 2–5 days, 2 days	Once	0.133	Local market
2	Jinjibla (Ginger)	Zingiberaceae	Root	Liquid	Oral	Boiled with tea and drink it before it cools OR The root part is grinded and uniformly mixed with milk and drink as it is	7–30 days	Once	0.133	Home garden/market
3	Feexoo fi qullubbii adii (garlic and garden cress)	Brassicaceae, Alliaceae respectively	Seed and root, respectively	Semi-solid	Oral	The seed and root is grinded and mixed until uniformly distributed and eat as it is	15-days	Twice	0.007	Home garden/ market
4	Abasuuda gurraacha (black cumin)	Ranunculaceae	Seed	Solid	Oral	The seed is grinded and eaten with food	1-month	Once	0.033	Local market
5	Qullubbii adii, Feexoo fi Loomii (garlic, garden cress and lemon)	Alliaceae, Brassicaceae, Rutaceae, respectively	Root, seed and seed respectively	Liquid	Oral	The three components are grinded and mixed uniformly and eat it	1-month	Once at night	0.002	Local market
6	Qullubbii adii (garlic)	Alliaceae	Root	Solid	Oral	Grinded and eaten with food OR Boiled with tea and drink it before it cools OR Eaten as it is after removing the outer part	1 month, 3-days, respectively	Once at night	0.168	Local market
7	Qullubbii adii, feexoo, and qariya* (garlic, garden cress and jalapeno)	Alliaceae, Brassicaceae, Solanaceae, respectively	Bulb, seed	Semi-solid	Oral	All of the components were grinded and uniformly mixed in butter and eaten as it is	60-days	Once	0.002	Home garden/market
8	Sanafic* (Black Mustard)	Brassica nigra, Brassicaceae	Seed	Semisolid	Oral	Powdered and eaten with food	1-month	Twice	0.059	Local market
9	Feexoo (garden cress)	Brassicaceae	Seed	Solid	Oral	Grinded and eaten as it is OR eaten with food	2–5 days	Once	0.069	Local market
10	Damakase* (Lamiaceae)	Labiatae	Leaves	Liquid	inhalation/Oral	The fresh leaves are squeezed and the juice is sniffed OR The fresh leaves are squeezed and they drink the juice	2 days, 3–5 days	Once	0.031	Home garden
11	Bakkanniisa (no common English name)	Euphorbionce	Leaves	Liquid	Oral	The fresh leaves are squeezed and they drink the juice OR The leaves becomes hot by fire and the hot leaves was applied on forehead	3–5 days, 1 days	Once	0.012	Home garden
12	Toogoo (no common English name)	Acanthaceae	Leaves	Liquid	Oral	The fresh leaves are squeezed and they drink the juice	3-days	Twice	0.033	Forest
13	Barbare* (Ethiopian nigella seed)	Solanaceae	Seed	Solid	Oral	The seeds are grinded and eaten with food	3-days	Three times	0.019	Home garden
14	Jinjibila fi qullubbii adii (ginger and garlic)	Zingiberaceae, Alliaceae respectively	Root	Liquid	Oral	Not reported	7-days	Once	0.002	Home garden/market
15	Feexoo, sanafic,* qullubbii adii fi qariya* (garden cress, mustard, garlic and jalapeno)	Brassicaceae, Brassicaceae, Alliaceae, Solanaceae, respectively	Leaves	Solid	Oral	The fresh leaves are grinded and uniformly mixed together, and they eat with food and/alone	4-days	Once	0.002	Home garden/market
16	Qariya* (jalapeno)	Solanaceae	Seed	As it is	Oral	Eaten with food as it is	2–5 days	Twice	0.021	Home garden/market
17	Baargamoo adii fi bakkanniisa	Myrtaceae, Euphorbionce respectively	Leaves for both	Aerosol	Inhalation	The fresh leaves of the plants are boiled in water and the aerosol produced will be inhaled	2–3 days	Once	0.002	Forest
18	Xosign*		Not reported	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported	0.002	Market
19	Damma daamuu (Honey)	N/A	Fresh honey	Semisolid	Oral	Drink as it is	2–5 days	Once	0.017	Home garden/market
20	Baargamoo Adii	Myrtaceae	Leaves	Aerosol	Inhalation	The fresh leaves are cleaned and boiled with water and inhale it OR the fresh leaves are squeezed and inhaled as it is	2–5 days	Twice	0.033	Market
21	Dhuummuugaa	Acanthaceae	Leaves	Liquid	Oral	The fresh leaves is dissolved in clean water and drink it	2–3 days	Once	0.005	Forest
22	Qomonyoo	Simarobouceae	Leaves	Aerosol	Topical	“Ulachuu”^@	2 days	Once	0.012	Forest
23	Amaamoo	-	Leaves	Liquid	Oral	The fresh leaves is grinded and dissolved in clean water and drink it	2 days	Once	0.007	Forest
24	Tunjoo	-	Leaves	Liquid	Oral	The fresh leaves is grinded and dissolved in clean water and drink it	3 days	Once	0.002	Forest
25	Araqee* (local alcohol)	N/A	Juice	Liquid	Oral	Drinking the alcohol	1 days	Three times	0.019	Homemade/market
26	Muuqii/garbuu	-	Seed	Liquid	Oral	The seed is powdered and boiled with clean water and drink it	1 day	Twice	0.002	Home garden/market
27	Qurunfud* (cloves)	Myrtaceae	Seed	Liquid	Oral	The seed is boiled with coffee and drink it	1 day	Three times	0.002	Local market
28	Qarafa* (cinnamon)	Capsicum pepper	Leaves	Liquid	Oral	The fresh leaves is boiled with coffee and drink it	≥ 3 days	Three times	0.002	Local market
29	Jimaa (khat)	Catha edulis, celastracea	Leaves	N/A	Oral	The fresh leaves is Chewed and swallow it	Daily	Once	0.002	Home garden/farmland
30	Siinfaa	-	Seed	Semisolid	Oral	The seed is grinded and uniformly mixed with honey and drink it	2 weeks	Twice	0.002	Home garden/farmland
31	Qullubbii adii fi siinfaa	Alliaceae	Root and seed respectively	Semisolid	Oral	The root and seed part of the plant was grinded. The grinded part will be uniformly mixed with honey and drink it	2 weeks	Once	0.007	Home garden
32	Abasuuda gurraacha fi qullubbii adii (black cumin and garlic)	Ranunculaceae, Alliaceae respectively	Seed, root	Semisolid	Oral	The seed and root is grinded and uniformly mixed with honey and drink it	2 weeks	Twice	0.002	Home garden/farmland

Notes: Unless otherwise indicated all of vernacular names are in Afaan Oromoo. *Amharic name. ^@Ulachuu is an Afaan Oromoo language, which follows the principle of mist therapy, that the patients or clients use parts of the plants after aerosolization.

Abbreviations: RFC, Relative Frequency of Citation; N/A, not applicable.

Figure 2 Parts of medicinal plants claimed by the community for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

Table 4 Traditional Medicines Route of Administration for the Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19

Route of Administration	Frequency (%)
Oral	29 (90.63)
Inhalation	1 (3.12)
Oral or inhalation	1 (3.12)
Topical	1 (3.12)

Figure 3 Relative frequency of citation of traditional medicine claims for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.