Experts advise against black seed oil as bird flu treatment

"This black seed oil is so potent -- 90 percent killing all avian influenza virus, called H5N1, known as bird flu," claims Bryan Ardis in a February 3 Instagram reel. 

Different versions of claims touting black seed oil spread on Facebook, Instagram and X, many of them referencing Ardis, who has an online show discussing health topics. AFP has previously fact-checked Ardis for spreading misinformation about cancer treatments.

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Screenshot of an Instagram post taken February 28, 2025

The clip of Ardis discussing black seed oil comes from a video outlining the supposed benefits of a product he sells on his website that contains the substance. 

The studies linked under Ardis's "bio-defense" product point to potential benefits of black seed oil in treating various conditions (archived here, here and here), but experts told AFP more research needs to be done before the herbal formula could be proven as a treatment for bird flu in humans.

Over the past year, doctors and the poultry industry have been tracking outbreaks of bird flu which have led to American egg shortages and in some cases spread to dairy cattle.

Dean Blumberg, chief of the pediatric infectious diseases division at University of California, Davis Health (archived here), told AFP in a February 24 interview that people who work with animals -- especially who come in contact with liquid secretions from birds -- are currently the most at risk from avian flu.

Black seed oil, derived from the Nigella sativa plant found in Asia and elsewhere, is often touted across the internet as an immune booster and general health treatment (archived here) but Blumberg said that even though there are some promising cases and small studies (archived here and here) he would not recommend the supplement to a patient to protect against or treat bird flu.

"You really want large studies that really prove that something works before you rely on it," Blumberg said. "If I had bird flu, there's no way I would take something unproven like this."

Blumberg favored double-blind, clinical trials, which he said had not yet been performed for black seed oil as a treatment for bird flu and other diseases. AFP was able to find a study of a small sample of patients in Saudi Arabia labelled as a randomized, clinical trial which assessed black seed oil for general health and found "promising" results (archived here).

Prioritizing 'proven benefits'

To prevent bird flu, Blumberg recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) for people working with animals to lower the risk of exposure to contaminated fluids. He also said that while there were human cases of bird flu with unknown origin, most circulating strains of the virus do not appear to typically spread between people.

"It hasn't evolved yet into an efficiently transmitted human-to-human pathogen," he said.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control, human vaccination against bird flu is not recommended at this time (archived here). While Health Canada says there is a low public risk for the pathogen, it did acquire 500,000 doses of GSK human bird flu vaccines (archived here).

Blumberg explained that human cases of bird flu can be treated with antiviral medications such as Tamiflu and supportive care including supplemental oxygen if a patient is having trouble breathing (archived here and here).

David Cennimo, an associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (archived here), agreed with Blumberg that even if there is some potential for black seed oil to treat bird flu and other diseases, clear and widely-accepted evidence is lacking.

"Some authorities on alternative medicine suggest robust studies need to be done," Cennimo said in a February 25 email. "I tend to favor that approach."

Cennimo said he had not found any significant toxicities from black seed oil, but still recommended users check for adverse interactions between supplements and prescription medication.

He also said common antivirals used against influenza had already proved effective against current strains of avian influenza and that he would prefer to treat someone with medication that has been evaluated in "well-designed studies."

"I caution individuals not to pass up a proven benefit for an uncertain claim about black seed," he said.

Robert Hopkins, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Disease in the United States (archived here), also discouraged the use of black seed oil for bird flu and recommended limiting exposure to animal fluids and consultation with a health professional for guidance on testing and treatment.

"Scientific studies do not support the use of black seed oil as a treatment for bird flu," Hopkins said in a February 25 email. "However, antiviral flu drugs like oseltamivir are effective in treating bird flu, and new vaccines are being developed," (archived here).

Substance regulations

Health Canada told AFP that black seed oil is a regulated Natural Health Product (NHP) in Canada and that the agency had authorized two formulations which used it in combination with other substances for general health maintenance products (archived here and here). However, it does not recognize black seed oil as a reliable treatment for bird flu.

"Health Canada has seen no evidence to suggest black seed oil works to cure diseases like bird flu, and the department has neither received nor authorised the use of any NHP for treating bird flu in humans," said Mark Johnson, a Health Canada spokesman, in February 25 email.

Johnson said selling or advertising unauthorized health products in Canada is illegal.

The US Food and Drug Administration has issued at least two warnings to sellers of products with black seed oil over unproven claims that their stock cured, prevented or treated disease (archived here and here).

Read more AFP's reporting on health misinformation here.