Helping hound for medics Science: Researchers believe dogs can be used in tackling deadly malaria

Dogs could be trained to sniff out malaria in people after trials showed the animals could detect the disease in samples of socks worn by infected children.

Researchers said their findings may lead to the first rapid and non-invasive test for deadly malaria.

Although the research is in its early stages, scientists hope trained dogs could help stop the disease spreading and see infected people identified and treated earlier.

Professor Steve Lindsay, of the Department of Biosciences at Durham University, said: “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.”

Nearly half of the world’s population is at risk of malaria, according to the World Health Organisation.

In 2016 there were an estimated 216 million cases and an estimated 445,000 malaria deaths. About 90% of cases are in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The disease is caused by parasites transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.

Researchers from the Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine used

“Could provide a non-invasive way of screening for the disease”

nylon socks to collect foot odour samples from apparently healthy children in The Gambia in West Africa.

The socks were transported to the Medical Detection Dogs charity in Milton Keynes, where a Labrador-Golden Retriever cross called Lexi and a Labrador called Sally, were trained to distinguish between the scent of children with and without malaria.

They correctly identified 70% of the malaria-infected samples.

The dogs were also able to correctly identify 90% of the samples without malaria parasites.

ON THE PROWL: Springer Spaniel Freya is being trained to help sniff out the malaria parasite in humans