Sniffing out a breakthrough
DOGS MAY BE ABLE TO DETECT MALARIA
DOGS could be trained to sniff out malaria in people to prevent the deadly disease from spreading, according to new research by Durham University.
Researchers found that dogs could scent malaria in samples of socks worn by infected children.
They say their findings could potentially lead to the first rapid and noninvasive test for malaria.
Although the research is in its early stages, the scientists hope trained sniffer dogs could help to stop malaria spreading between countries and lead to infected people being spotted earlier and treated quickly.
The research has been presented at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meeting in New Orleans, USA.
Professor Steve Lindsay, in the department of biosciences at Durham University, said: “While our findings are at an early stage, in principle we have shown that dogs could be trained to detect malaria infected people by their odour with a credible degree of accuracy.
“This could provide a non-invasive way of screening for the disease at ports of entry in a similar way to how sniffer dogs are routinely used to detect fruit and vegetables or drugs at airports.
“This could help prevent the spread of malaria to countries that have been declared malaria-free and also ensure that people, many of whom might be unaware that they are infected with the malaria parasite, receive antimalarial drug treatment for the disease.”
Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the research was carried out by Durham University, the charity Medical Detection Dogs (MDD), the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the University of Dundee (all UK), the Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia (MRCG) at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), and the National Malaria Control Programme, The Gambia.
Researchers from the MRCG and the LSHTM used nylon socks to collect foot odour samples from apparently healthy children aged five to 14 in The Gambia in West Africa.
Using a simple finger-prick test the children were also screened to determine if they had the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in their blood.
The sock samples were transported to the Medical Detection Dogs charity in Milton Keynes, where two dogs, a labrador-golden retriever cross called Lexi and a labrador called Sally, were trained to distinguish between the scent of children infected with malaria parasites and those who were uninfected.
In total 175 sock samples were tested including those of all 30 malaria-positive children identified by the study and 145 from uninfected children.
The dogs were able to correctly identify 70% of the malaria-infected samples. The dogs were also able to correctly identify 90% of the samples without malaria parasites.
Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes, but it can be prevented and cured.
Sniffer dogs could provide a noninvasive, portable and rapid test for identifying malaria carriers and would be particularly useful in settings where there are few individuals with malaria parasites.
Study co-author Dr Claire Guest, chief executive officer of Medical Detection Dogs, said: “MDD have had positive results training dogs to detect diseases including cancer and diabetes sugar changes by odour.
“This is the first time we have trained dogs to detect a parasite infection and we are delighted by these early results.”