Specially trained dogs recognize people infected with coronavirus by their sense of smell, according to German scientists. In the experiment, the animals did not have to distinguish between COVID-19 and another disease, but they correctly detected 94 percent of the infected.
Researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hanover report that lung infections, including SARS-CoV-2 infection, release specific volatile substances that dogs can detect.
To test this in the event of a coronavirus infection, they trained eight dogs for a week, which would later recognize the SARS-CoV-2 infection in saliva samples as well as tracheal and bronchial samples.
Scientists gave dogs samples collected from people with COVID-19, who had clinical symptoms, and from people who had not had any recent infection.
Out of 1012 samples, 157 recognized correctly as infected and 792 as healthy. At the same time, 33 times they incorrectly indicated the lack of the virus and 30 times they diagnosed the disease in a healthy person.
Below is a short report in English. From 58 seconds, you can watch an experiment with a dog, in which the smell detects a sample infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
According to the researchers, these preliminary results show that dogs can be used to identify infected people, for example in public places. In some situations, they could be used as an add-on or alternative to RT-PCR testing, the researchers said.
“In countries with limited access to diagnostic tests, dogs may have the potential to be used in the mass detection of infected people. More work is needed to better understand the possibilities and limitations of the use of odor-detecting dogs in the diagnosis of viral respiratory diseases, ‘write the authors of the study published in the journal Login BMC Infectious Diseases.
Read also:
- They will train dogs to sniff out people with COVID-19
- Should dogs and cats also keep a social distance?
- Doctors confirm: the dog is good for our health. How it’s possible?