A new study has claimed that sniffer dogs can help prevent the spread of Coronavirus by detecting SARS-CoV2, the virus behind Covid-19. According to the research, canines can be 88 percent accurate in sniffing out the deadly virus, much faster than the conventional RT-PCR test.
The study was conducted by a group of scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Durham University. Researchers found that the dog screening, followed by swab testing, picked up 91 percent of infections. While even the quickest COVID detection test takes at least 15 minutes to show the result, sniffer dogs can sniff out the disease in a few seconds.
During the study, these sniffer dogs were given worn socks, face masks and t-shirts of many people. The dogs were able to sniff out the disease even when it was caused by different variants and when the person had no symptoms or only had very low levels of the virus in their system.
Sniffer dogs can be used for mass screening at airports or at busy train stations but the research team does not recommend dogs alone to sniff out positive cases but rather suggests using them as an additional screening tool.