There seems to be a better detection method for COVID-19, which the strongest evidence suggests is more effective than testings. This method has a wet nose and four legs. Yes, a sniffer dog.
Dogs have an excellent sense of smell. In support of this reason, scientists have claimed that dogs could help in detecting people harboring the COVID-19 virus.
There are promising results from the tests of dogs exposed to substances in carefully controlled environments. Although these conditions might need to be duplicated in real-world settings.
The University of Helsinki research shows that Labrador retrievers and white shepherds can detect up to 97 percent of positive cases. It also added that 99% of the trained dogs can accurately determine who is virus-free among airport passengers.
A new study has found that sniffer dogs can be 88% accurate in detecting the deadly virus, faster than the conventional COVID-19 tests.
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Durham University conducted a study. It found that the dog screening followed by swab testing picked up 91% of infections. The sniffer dogs can sniff out the disease in a few seconds whereas, even the quickest COVID-19 detection test takes up to 15 minutes.
Sniffer dogs are already useful to detect several diseases like epilepsy, cancer, and parkinson’s disease. When deployed at airports and other large gatherings dogs can be “useful to contain the pandemic”, believe Finnish experts.
Dogs can detect one scent at a concentration of one part per trillion. This is why it is believed that they might be able to detect molecules that are discreetly secreted by a sick human body.