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Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania have revealed that dogs with Covid-19 infection or asymptomatic carriers can benefit from dogs’ sense of smell for diagnosis.
Infectious disease experts say preventing future coronavirus outbreaks will require further testing and identification of asymptomatic carriers, according to the Live Science report.
WHEN THE RESTRICTIONS ARE RELEASED, I CAN PLAY A VALUABLE ROLE TO CAPTURE THE DISEASE
A new program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) continues to work for disease detection. The researchers are working with dogs to see if the superior sniffing abilities of dogs can aid early detection of Covid-19 in humans.
Representatives for Penn Vet said dogs that can detect the Covid-19 odor can identify the infection in asymptomatic people and can play a valuable role in contracting the disease when people return to work and their social distance restrictions are relaxed.
EIGHT DOG WILL BE TRAINED AT THE BEGINNING
Eight dogs will initially be trained in a laboratory. They will learn to recognize the smell of Covid-19 in saliva and urine samples from infected patients for three weeks. The dogs will then be tasked with distinguishing between these samples and those collected from people without the disease.
“The potential impact of these dogs and their ability to detect Covid-19 may be significant. This study will benefit the dogs’ extraordinary ability to support the country’s Covid-19 surveillance systems to reduce the spread of the virus in the community.” said the director of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Cynthia Otto. said.
Dogs have been known to smell cancer since the 1980s. Many cells produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with unique odors found in human blood, saliva, urine, or breath.
