University of Adelaide researchers are working with international partners to train sniffer dogs to detect COVID-19 infection.
It is hoped the first COVID-19 detection dogs could be working within months, and would complement existing methods by providing low cost, instantaneous and reliable screening.
Dogs could be deployed in airports and also be used to screen staff in hospitals and travellers in quarantine.
Previous research has shown dogs can detect the presence of specific Volatile Olfactory Compounds (VOCs) caused by a viral infection in people.
The virus does not release gas of its own. The smelly gas (Volatile Organic Compounds) is released by our own immune system and there lies the difficulty in differentiating the other infections, Asthma and COPD exacerbation. The sensitivity is good but will the specificity be good too in a population setting?
I hope they do not falsely catch people with lung disease.
I wondered why dogs aren't susceptible to COVID-19 infection? Don't they have an ACE receptor?
It was reported being done in UK months ago by a woman the north,I think . cannot remember details but it was on BBC then too. this woman had been training other medical dogs for about 12 years. and was about to start on corvid sniffers but/ not heard any more since. maybe it didn't turn out as promised or we would have heard more . I do think there was something about 12 weeks.
I volunteer at a National Trust property ( when they are open) and have met various working dogs with a variety of talents. However, being rather cynical, as I was in the hotel industry, it is very easy to put a jacket on a dog so it can go everywhere with you even places where dogs are banned.
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Difficulty in breathing and blaming COVID-19
