Highly-trained dogs can sniff out COVID-19 infections better than the RATs (rapid antigen self-tests) people have become used to rely on at home, according to a new study.
The dogs’ detection reached 97 per cent in the study at the National Veterinary School in Maisons Alfort, near Paris. The sniffing was also 91 per cent correct – far more accurate than the RATs, which tend to be better at ruling out infection than at finding it.
335 people took part in the research, with about one-third of participants testing positive for the coronavirus with a nasal PCR (polymerase chain reaction) swab.
Sweat samples from the armpits of the participants were collected with cotton pads that were locked into jars and given to at least two different dogs for sniffing. None of the dogs had prior contact with the volunteers. Nine dogs participated in total.
In July, German researchers showed trained dogs were able to distinguish between saliva sampled from people infected with COVID and those who were not more than 90 per cent of the time.
Finland, Dubai and Switzerland have started training dogs to sniff out infections. Studies over the past decade have reported handlers and their four-legged companions identifying urine of bladder cancer patients, as well as lung cancer in exhaled breath samples.
Queenslander Martin Dominick, who has 35 years’ experience training young pups for government and private corporations, said the ability of canines to sniff out tiny whiffs of a substance is remarkable, and a natural gift that technology cannot match.
“It starts with the nose and the ability to differentiate odours in very small quantities,” he told 9News.
One of the biggest strengths of a sniffer dog is total impartiality and non-human bias, he added.
Sniffer dogs should be used more. They are very special animals.
