All About Pets • Volume 3 • Issue 3 • May–Aug 2023 10 Dogs Can Sense COVID-19 in Humans Previous studies have inferred that dogs are capable of detecting the presence of diseases such as cancer in humans. It is now found that dogs may be just as useful for mass COVID-19 screening as commercially available tests. Researchers of the study published in BMJ Global Health discuss how they analyzed “medical detection canines” by making them sniff human sweat samples, for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection. In the study, 8 dogs had been trained to recognize the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The dogs were made to sniff sweat samples of 2,802 participants who came to 4 different events. The sweat samples were presented to the dogs in a line-up scenario, where the participants had no direct contact with the dogs. All the participants were tested before the event using rapid antigen test and an RT-qPCR. The dogs achieved a diagnostic specificity of 99.93% (detection of negative samples) and a sensitivity of 81.58% (detection of positive samples). The overall agreement rate was 99.68%. It was observed that the vaccination status, previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, chronic illness, and medication of the participants had no effect on the dogs’ ability to detect an acute infection. The study also demonstrates how dogs can be used to detect SARS-CoV-2 in everyday life, and thus, indicates that dogs can be used as an option for infection control. Source: Brethorst SV. COVID sniffer dogs’ real-life feasibility study is successful. https://medialxpress.com/. Published November 11, 2022. Accessed April 10, 2023. IN THE NEWS
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