A Siddha doctor from Tamil Nadu has claimed to have formulated a herbal medicine that can cure Coronavirus, which was first detected in the city of Wuhan in China in December 2019 and has no effective vaccine or drug to treat it.

Dr Thanikasalam Veni of Rathna Siddha Hospital in Chennai has 25-year of vast experience in field Siddha and Ayurvedic medicines. Speaking to ANI, he said: "We have formulated a medicine from an extract of herbs. It is very effective to cure any type of viral fever. Coronavirus has no medicine. In China's Wuhan where Coronavirus has claimed over 50 lives, experts have no idea how to cure the disease. Our herbal extract medicine is used to treat dengue, multi-organ fever and acute liver fever." "We want to tell the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Chinese government that our medicine is very effective in treating multi-organ failure in corona fever condition," he said.

The Siddha doctor claimed that the medicine formulated by him along with his team treats infections caused by the virus within 24 hours to 40 hours. "When we treated the dengue virus with our medicine, many patients with reduced platelets count, acute liver failure, immunity deficiency and low white blood cell (WBC) were cured within 24-40 hours," said Veni. "In coronavirus too I am confident our medicine will be very effective," he added.

The doctor said he is willing to help the state and the central government as well as China if required. "If the Centre and state government require then I am ready with medicine. Also, if China wants my contribution I am ready to fly immediately to Wuhan with my medicine which can cure Coronavirus," he said.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Health Minister said that the state is "well prepared and is taking all precautionary and preventive steps" to tackle any possible infections. "So far, no case has been identified in the state as well as the country. I appeal to the public to not panic," he said. The virus, which has no effective vaccine, was reported on January 16 in Japan, the first case outside China and its territories.

Coronaviruses (nCoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death.

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