Dogs can sniff out Covid with 94% accuracy
Covid-19 infection has a distinct smell that can be detected by specially trained dogs with up to 94 per cent accuracy, UK research suggests.
The findings, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, are based on six dogs who tested more than 3,500 odour samples donated by the public and NHS staff.
The canines were able to sniff out samples from people who were infected with coronavirus but were asymptomatic, as well as those who had low viral loads.
Theywerealsoabletoidentify infections caused by the coronavirus strain that was dominant in the UK last summer as well as the UK (Kent) version of the virus which appeared later in the year.
Professor James Logan, head of the department of disease control at London School of Hygieneandtropicalmedicine (LSHTM), who led the project, said: "What was great was the dogs that have been trained on the original variant transferred to the new (Kent) variant.
"They could detect the new variant without any additional training. So this gives us real hope and really suggests that dogs are able to detect different variants of Covid."
Six dogs - Asher, Kyp, Lexie, Tala, Millie, and Marlow - from the charity Medical Detection Dogs took part in the doubleblind trial.
This means neither the research team nor the dogs knew which of the odour samples came from those infected with Covid-19 and which were coronavirus-free.
Theresearch,whichwaspartfunded by the UK'S Department of Health and Social Care, showed that the specially traineddogswereabletoquickly detect coronavirus-infected sampleswithupto94.3percent sensitivity(theabilitytocorrectly identify positive cases) and
upto92percentspecificity(the abilitytocorrectlyidentifynegative cases).
The scientists said the next phase of the trial will test whether these "super sniffers" are able to detect coronavirus
onrealpeopleinreal-worldsettingssuchasairportsandsports events.meanwhile,preliminary analysis using mathematical modelling suggests two dogs could screen 300 plane passengers in half an hour.
The researchers said using a rapid screen and test strategy, individuals who are identified by the dogs would then require apcrtesttoconfirmdiagnosis.