By sniffing people, dogs could revolutionize testing for coronavirus
Specially trained dogs could be able to provide rapid and non-invasive coronavirus testing, a team of researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Durham University and the British organization Medical Detection Dogs, have stated.
As explained in a release by the LSHTM, dogs can detect several diseases including cancer, Parkinson’s and bacterial infections thanks to their highly sensitive sense of smell.
Scientists believe that animals trained in a similar way could be able to test up to 250 people per hour by sniffing them.
The ability to perform a high number of tests in a short amount of time, allowing for rapid identification and isolation of those who test positive to the virus, has proven to be one of the major challenges posed by the outbreak. It is also vital that authorities will soon allow the easing up of the restrictive measures that have been imposed by most countries around the world.
“Our previous work demonstrated that dogs can detect odors from humans with a malaria infection with extremely high accuracy – above the World Health Organization standards for a diagnostic,” Prof. James Logan, Head of the Department of Disease Control at LSHTM said according to the release.
“It’s early days for COVID19 odor detection. We do not know if COVID-19 has a specific odor yet, but we know that other respiratory diseases change our body odor so there is a chance that it does. And if it does dogs will be able to detect it. This new diagnostic tool could revolutionize our response to COVID-19,” he added.
In order to train the animals for detecting other illnesses, they are presented with samples in the training room. Moreover, dogs are able to identify the slightest changes in the temperature of the skin.
In the past, it has been ascertained that dogs – and specifically beagles – can sniff cell lung cancer in plasma, as was reported in a study published by The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association in July 2019. More research has been directed to verify their ability to detect other types of cancer, including breast and colorectal cancer.
“In principle, we’re sure that dogs could detect COVID-19,” said Dr Claire Guest, CEO and Co-Founder of Medical Detection Dogs. “We are now looking into how we can safely catch the odor of the virus from patients and present it to the dogs.
“The aim is that dogs will be able to screen anyone, including those who are asymptomatic and tell us whether they need to be tested. This would be fast, effective and non-invasive and make sure the limited NHS testing resources are only used where they are really needed,” she added.
The new project focused could also help in testing a large amount of people in social gatherings when life begins to go back to normal.
“If the research is successful, we could use COVID-19 detection dogs at airports at the end of the epidemic to rapidly identify people carrying the virus. This would help prevent the re-emergence of the disease after we have brought the present epidemic under control,” said Prof. Steve Lindsay at Durham University.