Super-Sniffer Dogs can Detect Coronavirus

As per a UK study, Covid –sniffing dogs can detect the presence of coronavirus at the entrance of airports, thus reducing the long queue at the testing lines and aiding in the spread of the virus.

The scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in research on Monday pointed out that a pair of dogs can minutely scan 300 travelers in half an hour. After that, only the ones that the dogs select shall have to go for a PCR test.

Just the way a dog identifies bombs, drugs, or other diseases, they can also sniff out Covid infected people. Pathogens give birth to unique volatile organic compounds that the infected cells release.

On Friday, James Logan, head of the department of disease control at London exclaimed, “The current methods of testing for Covid are not suitable for rapid screening of large numbers of people, such as people found in airports or other public venues where you have got to screen a lot of people very quickly. For other disease outbreaks in the future, we think dogs could be deployed quickly to screen people and help stop the outbreak when it first begins.”

SOCKS AND T-SHIRTS

The study pointed out that the dogs were capable of detecting asymptomatic patients and also people with two various strains, along with low viral loads. According to the scientists, the procedure of dog selection and then the PCR test shall successfully detect 91% of cases. Such research is conducted for the first time and this includes the symptomatic as well as the asymptomatic ones.

The dogs received training for the identification of Covid by making use of body odor samples on masks, socks, and T-shirts. The researchers are hopeful that it can be applied in the real world.

The London School of Hygiene along with the charity Medical Detection Dogs and Durham University conducted this trial. The Department of Health & Social Care of the UK funded it partly. The trial made use of more than 3,5000 odor samples that the public and NHS staff donated.