A recent study found that dogs trained to detect coronavirus infections did so with 94% accuracy, and the researchers hope the method can be implemented soon to prevent future outbreaks at mass gatherings.
In the study, published by BMC Infectious Diseases and led by the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover, the researchers trained eight “detection dogs” of the German Armed Forces for a week to detect secretions of human saliva from SARS-CoV-2 in infected patients.
The detection dogs were presented with 1,012 random samples, to assess whether they could discriminate between samples from infected (positive) and uninfected (negative) individuals.
In the end, the dogs were incredibly able to discriminate with a “94% overall detection rate,” giving “157 correct indications of positive, 792 correct rejections of negative, 33 incorrect indications of negative negative rejection from 30 positive sample submissions.” .
According to PBS, dogs have odor receptors 10,000 to 100,000 times more powerful than humans, which means they can detect a teaspoon of sugar in a million gallons of water or a rotten apple in 2 million barrels.
When compared to vision, the researchers say, it means that what humans can see a third of a mile away, a dog could see more than 3,000 miles away clearly.
CNBC reported that investigators hope that the detection dogs may one day be used in public areas such as airports and at large gatherings like sporting events to prevent further spread of the virus.
In a YouTube video about the study, Maren von Koeckritz-Blickwede, a study researcher and university professor, said the dogs were able to successfully detect the samples because the metabolic processes of an infected person “completely change.”
“We believe that dogs can detect a specific odor from the metabolic changes that occur in those patients,” he said.
The researchers say the next step would be to train dogs to differentiate between coronavirus samples and other infectious diseases like influenza.
Dog nose diagnoses: dogs can detect COVID-19 patients
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