Trained dogs detect COVID-19 and also PCR test

Dogs are as reliable as clinical tests to detect cases of COVID-19 and may be superior to PCR tests to identify asymptomatic infected individuals. Bonus: Canines are cute and less invasive than wiping the nose.

A study involving sweat samples from 335 dogs trained dogs Eavesdropping on 97% of coronavirus cases Investigators, identified by PCR test, report June 1st PLOS One.. And the dog found all 31 COVID-19 cases out of 192 asymptomatic.

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These findings indicate that dogs may be effective in mass screening efforts at locations such as airports and concerts, and may provide a friendly alternative for testing people crouching with nasal swabs. Evidence, says Dominique Grandjean, a veterinarian at the National Veterinary School of Alfort, Maison-Alfort, France.

“Dog doesn’t lie,” but there are many ways in which PCR testing can go wrong, says Grandjean.Dog nose also identified more COVID-19 cases Antigen test ((((SN: 12/17/21), Similar to many home tests, but Grandjean et al. Found that another respiratory virus could be mistaken for a coronavirus. In addition, anecdotal evidence suggests that dogs can pick up asymptomatic cases for as long as 48 hours before people test positive by PCR, he says.

In this study, dogs from the French Fire Department and the United Arab Emirates were trained to detect coronavirus by giving them toys (usually tennis balls). “It’s a play time for them,” says Grandjean. Depending on the dog’s odor detection experience, it takes about 3-6 weeks to train a dog to select a case of COVID-19 from a sweat sample.

The dog then sniffed a cone containing a sample of sweat collected from the armpits of a human volunteer. Wiping sweat from the back of people’s necks and giving woofers the scent of used face masks worked as well, says Grandjean.

These results show that odors from multiple body parts can be used to screen dogs, says Kenneth Farton, a forensic chemist at Florida International University in Miami who was not involved in the study.

Results are similar to previous small studies, and dogs have also been found to perform as well as or better than PCR tests to detect SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. .. He and his colleagues used dogs in schools, music festivals, and small trials to screen airline employees for coronavirus infections.

One of the biggest advantages dogs have over other tests is their speed, says Farton. “Even what we call a rapid test, you will still have to wait tens or hours, where the dog can respond in just a few seconds or just a few seconds.”

Cynthia Otto, director of the Working Dog Center at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine, does not know exactly what the dog smells when it detects COVID-19 and other illnesses. .. It may not be a single chemical, but a pattern that increases or decreases the level of a particular aroma. “We can’t make a perfume bottle with a scent that gives it the scent of COVID,” she says.

Even with repeated studies demonstrating the ability of dogs to detect COVID, some doctors, scientists, and government officials are skeptical of this claim, Grandjean says. He finds reluctant because the dog has already been used to sniff out drugs and explosives and has been tested to detect other illnesses such as cancer, he says. .. “Every time I fly, my dog ​​is sniffing my luggage. [and found] There are no explosives. So you trust them when you fly, but don’t you want to trust them for COVID? “

One of the challenges for dogs is that people don’t think of dogs as high-tech as electronic sensors, Farton says. “But dogs are one of the best technology devices we have. They’re not electronic sensors, they’re just biological sensors,” he says.

Another drawback of dogs is that they take longer to train. Currently, not enough dogs are trained to detect explosives, not to mention illness. “A dog that works well in that lab setting may not work well in people’s settings,” she says. Handlers can also affect a dog’s reaction and must be able to read the dog well, she says. “I need a better dog.”