Medical Research Council (MRC) has refuted as “misleading” an information attributed to it on the prevention of coronavirus in The Gambia.

The council in a press release said: “(we are) aware of information circulating on social media in The Gambia attributing the recommendation for the consumption of garlic as a preventive measure against the coronavirus to ‘a staff of MRC’.

“We wish to inform the general public that this information is false. We encourage anyone who receives this message to stop sharing it and prevent the further spread of this false information.”

On Monday Senegal confirmed its first case of coronavirus in the country a week Nigeria announced that an Italian had tested positive for the virus, the first case in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Since then misinformation and false medical advice have spread widely on social media.