Hibiscus tea kills the deadly avian flu virus

Bird flu, also called avian influenza, is a viral infection that can also infect humans and other animals. Most forms of the virus are restricted to birds.

H5N1 is the most common form of bird flu. It’s deadly to birds, and can easily affect humans and other animals that come in contact with a carrier. According to the World Health Organization, H5N1 was first discovered in humans in 1997, and has killed nearly 60 percent of those infected.

Currently, the virus isn’t known to spread via human-to-human contact. Still, some experts worry that H5N1 may pose a risk of becoming a pandemic threat to humans.

”Several studies have been conducted to discover potential anti-influenza agents against H5N1 HPAIV derived from plants. The extracts of Cistus incanus [9], Echinacea purpurea [23], Eugenia jambolana [26] and pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) [27] showed only direct antiviral effects against viral particles. Elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) extracts reduced the number of foci in infected MDCK cells; however, the effect was limited [14]. Thai herbal plant extracts (Terminalia bellirica, Salacia chinensis, Zingiber montanum and Peltophorum pterocarpum) moderately reduced viral infectivity in MDCK cells simultaneously inoculated with the extract and virus [13]. In contrast, Pelargonium sidoides extracts showed no antiviral effects [18]. Thus, not all plants exhibited high antiviral effects against H5N1 HPAIV. However, our study indicated that in addition to the crude hibiscus extract, the fractionated component (frHibis), which has a low molecular weight (<3 kDa), also exhibited strong antiviral effects against H5N1 HPAIV strains, irrespective of origin.”