Sniffer dogs are trained to detect people with COVID-19



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Using c
The use of dogs’ sense of smell to detect diseases, such as some types of tumors, was already investigated before the pandemic (photo: ANTTI AIMO-KOIVISTO / AFP)

In addition to assisting in rescues and reporting drug trafficking, sniffer dogs have gained a new role in pandemic. In Finland, these animals are being trained to report people with COVID-19. And, according to researchers at the University of Helsinki Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, the puppies They can discover the presence of the new coronavirus even before the patient has symptoms.

Scientists believe that the disease causes a change in sweat that is imperceptible to humans, but can be felt by smell watery two puppies.

Thus, the researchers, in association with Wise nose, a Finnish organization specializing in odor detection, trained sixteen animals so that they could distinguish and alert trainers to the presence of COVID-19.

During the tests, the dogs were presented with different scent samples. When the animals smelled a positive test result, the scientists rang a kind of bell. When the dogs faced the negative sample, nothing happened and they moved on to the next one.

At airports, the process will be similar. Instead of directly smelling the passengers, as is often the case when searching for illicit substances, the baskets will smell the tissues delivered to the travelers and deposited in a collection box.

It only takes ten seconds to know if a person has the new one coronavrus, but the whole process takes about a minute.

I participate voluntarily

For now, participation in the voluntary assessment and each shift has a different duration, depending on the resistance of the dogs. If the result is positive, the patient is referred to a proof free done at the airport itself.

A Helsinki University ensures that the reliability of the test is close to 100%. The tests started this week at Finnish airports and are expected to last four months. However, the technique has already begun to spread.

The National Health System of the United Kingdom announced that it should also start training sniffer dogs to recognize people with covid-19.

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