Against Covid-19, Dogs in England Will Be Trained to Sniff Corona Virus
Various ways continue to be sought to combat the Covid-19 pandemic in the world, including involving the ability of dogs.
Medical Detection Dogs UK in collaboration with Durham University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) conducted a trial to detect corona virus using the ability to smell dogs.
"In principle, we believe that dogs can detect Covid-19. We are now finding out how to capture the corona virus 'smell' from infected patients, then show it to dogs," said Dr Claire Guest, CEO of Medical Detection Dogs, as quoted. from Fox on Monday (3/30/2020).
If the dog can detect the corona virus, it is hoped this can help the authorities to find out the number of positive cases of Covid-19.
They also hope this can help infected people get treated faster, especially for the elderly and patients with concomitant diseases.
The New York Post reported on Monday (3/30/2020), Medical Detection Dogs are accustomed to training dogs to recognize patients with malaria, cancer, and Parkinson's, because every disease has its own scent.
Head of the Department of Disease Control at LSHTM Professor James Logan said the research proved that dogs can detect malaria infections with odors with a degree of accuracy in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) diagnostic standards.
Guest also added, dog smell can detect the most minimal changes in skin temperature, so if someone has a fever, these dogs can find out.
"The aim is that dogs can sniff out any symptoms, including if the patient has no symptoms. This method will be fast, effective, and non-invasive," Guest said.
This does not mean that dogs can certainly detect the scent of the new corona virus that causes Covid-19.
However, experts believe that dogs can be trained to sniff out the same odor of corona virus from infected patients. Later, the corona canine odor test will be matched with the Covid-19 test results from the laboratory to see whether the results are accurate or not.
"We know that other respiratory diseases such as Covid-19 change human body odor. So, there is a very high chance for dogs to be able to detect it," explained James Logan.
The trial of the dog's olfactory ability to detect corona virus is expected to be completed in just six weeks.
If this research is successful then dogs can be placed in strategic points such as airports to quickly identify people who carry the virus.
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