Chinese medicinal demand fuels earthworm rush in Vietnam

Earthworms are being dried for use in Chinese medicine in this web screenshot. [Courtesy]

Practioners of traditional Chinese medicine use earthworms dried to a powder or distilled in liquid to treat fevers, arthritis, asthma and bronchitis. But overharvesting in China has nearly wiped out the country's earthworm population.

Now, hunters are poaching and purchasing earthworms unearthed in Vietnam, upsetting Vietnamese farmers who depend on them to keep their fields fertile and environment balanced.