Healing with animals in Feira de Santana City, Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

This paper discusses the use of animals prescribed as medicines by herbalists from Feira de Santana city in the State of Bahia, Northeastern Brazil. Data were obtained by undergraduates of the Biology course of Feira de Santana State University, who performed open interviews with herbalists at Centro de Abastecimento, the main local market. The medicinally used faunistic resources are echinoderms, arthropods, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals. Folk remedies are administered as teas, syrups or plasters. Respiratory affections predominated and fat was the most common zootherapeutic. It was observed that some of the useful species are in danger of extinction. It is suggested that the rearing of these species in traditional farming systems will allow their conservation, while at the same time they will also results in people's life improvement. Traditional knowledge on folk medicine is to be studied in order to lead to the discovery of new sources of drugs.