Emma scott 
UK scientists believe that medical test dogs can help identify cases of COVID-19 in humans.
Medical detection dogs are already being used to diagnose cancer, malaria, and Parkinson’s.
Academics from the Universities of London and Durham explore whether dogs have expanded ability to detect COVID-19.
Dogs are capable of smelling the tests of 750 people in an hour.
Specially trained medical detection dogs could solve the test shortage crisis that many countries face during the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the head of a nonprofit that trains therapy dogs, dogs can smell 750 people an hour.
(LSHTM), Durham University and the Organization for Medical Detection Dogs are exploring the potential for dogs to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
LSHTM published a press release describing the pilot project. Who is trying to install it? Can dogs reliably detect COVID-19 like other diseases?
Mirror reported that dogs are given face masks of coronavirus patients in training. To find out if COVID-19 has a unique smell. Which can be recognized by the dog’s enhanced senses of smell.
how many weeks will it take to know COVID-19
Professor James Logan said: “It’s early days for COVID-19 odor detection. We don’t know whether COVID-19 has a distinctive odor yet. Still, we know that other respiratory Diseases change how our bodies smell, so this is likely to happen.
Claire Guest, CEO of the Medical Detection Dogs charity, told the Mirror: “There are already a lot of great achievements in the work of dogs to detect human disease, and I believe they have to be able to sniff out COVID-19. can be trained for.”
Also, Read – Doctors answer questions on dog spreading Omicron variant.
Dogs COVID-19 Projects
Several countries are trying to train dogs to identify people infected with SARS-CoV-2.
Three projects are underway. Investigators from Aloft’s National Veterinary School in France lead an international partnership to train and test dogs. Some are now being used at Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates.
A project in Finland with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Helsinki has deployed the dogs at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. And officials from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and the US Army collaborate on a project with preliminary findings and plans for further testing.
Sniffing with precision
An epidemiologist and one-health lecturer at the Adelaide School of Animal and Veterinary Science in Australia, Dr. Anne-Lise Cheber leads a team that is part of an international project coordinated by Aloft. As his team prepares to begin training and testing the dogs in early October, he noted the results of the partnership’s study.
There are already indications that trained dogs can identify the odor produced by the human body during SARS-CoV-2 infection. And can distinguish them by the smell produced during infection with others—illnesses such as betacoronavirus or influenza.
Dr. Cheber said that as virus replication begins, the project dogs can detect SARS-CoV-2 infection earlier than polymerase chain reaction-based assays.
The Aloft-led partnership includes researchers from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates.
Possibility of use in multiple settings
Those with a positive result are directed to the nearest university hospital information station.
Citing previous studies, the announcement indicates that trained dogs can spot 94%-100% of people with the infection. Officials at the University of Helsinki also see the possibility that dogs that detect COVID-19 could identify conditions in nursing and retirement homes and medical settings.
Also, Read – How evil is Omicron Variant in the United States.
Study in America COVID-19
Information from the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center reveals. Dogs trained in the US can be used to check crowds at airports, stadiums, or borders.
Dr. Patricia Buckley said in an email. That proof of concept study was able to discriminate between dog urine samples. People were positive and negative for COVID-19, and the project entered the second training phase. Sweat samples are also included.
According to Buckley, researchers at the Army and Penn Vet were unaware of this. Can their dogs differentiate between SARS-CoV-2 infection? But she said further refinements to the project’s training protocol would include training dogs to ignore samples from patients with other diseases.
Also, Read – Symptoms of Omicron different with taste and smell, do not ignore
The right dog and training COVID-19
Dr. Susan Hazel, Senior Lecturer in the Adelaide School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Specialist in Animal Behavior and Welfare, Dr. Assist in Chamber’s work. She said the training includes standard identification dog protocols.
Those who use toys or food to reward dogs when they sit in front of positive rather than negative samples.
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