Dogs who sniff Covid could be coming to an airport near you

Dogs can be trained to detect the majority of COVID-19 infections even when patients are asymptomatic, according to scientists from the London School of Tropical Medicine, Durham University and the group Medical Detection Dogs. Authors of the research, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, hope the screening of clothing and face masks could help replace the need to quarantine airplane travelers after incoming flights. "What we're suggesting is that dogs would give the first initial screening, and then those (arrivals) that were indicated as positive would then receive a complimentary PCR test," declared co-author James Logan.

How does it work? The results are said to be more effective than temperature checks as they could detect mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 infections. Dogs that screened arrivals at airport terminals could even detect 91% of cases, resulting in a 2.24x lower rate of transmission than with PCR tests alone.

On Friday, Thailand also deployed dogs trained to detect coronavirus infections by sniffing samples of human sweat as the country deals with a severe outbreak of COVID-19. The samples are stored in small metal containers for the dogs to inspect one by one, and about 2,000 specimens have already been sniffed this month. The trained Labradors at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University have even shown a success rate of about 95% and the project's directors hope to extend the trial to airports or boat piers.

Outlook: Dogs have long been trained to detect odors associated with drugs or explosives, as well as malaria, cancer and diabetes, but "this is the first time that dogs are able to detect a viral disease in humans," said Dominique Grandjean, a professor at the National Veterinary School of Alfort in France. Sniffing tests would also cost as little as a dollar and take seconds, compared to the expensive prices and time constraints of PCR testing.