The phenomenon of dogs trained to detect coronavirus is growing around the world

There are several breeds of dogs that pass through Miami International Airport. They are not looking for explosives. Neither drugs. They are part of a pilot program in collaboration with Miami-Dade County, the Global Forensic and Justice Center and Florida International University (FIU) that aims to have dogs for detect the COVID-19 virus.

It is the first terminal in the world to use them. Its efficiency in recognizing the virus in humans is between 96% and 99%. These dogs have the ability to immediately detect and respond to the virus in public spaces such as airports.

“This pandemic has prompted us to innovate to stop the spread. I applaud the departmental commission for this initiative. We pride ourselves on doing all we can to protect our residents. I look forward to seeing the airport put its skills to the test and expand the pilot program to other facilities across the county, ”said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

The smell. That’s what it’s about. Dogs can detect things with their scent. The virus produces metabolic changes in the sufferer, which results in the production of volatile organic compounds in the breath and sweat.

When dogs detect a person carrying the scent of the virus, This traveler is taken to a special unit where a rapid COVID test is performed.

In a media broadcast, the dogs smelled various chin straps. Upon detecting the infected person, as happens with other procedures, the animal sat down in front of the infected person to inform their caregiver.

To train them in the detection of COVID-19, patient masks were used, previously sterilized with ultraviolet rays, supplied by Miami hospitals.

In the world

“Thai dogs trained to detect COVID-19 in human sweat showed nearly 95% accuracy during training and they could be used to identify coronavirus infections in busy transportation hubs within seconds, ”said the pilot of the Miami pilot.

Six Labrador Retrievers participated in a six-month project that included their release to examine the sweat of an infected patient on a spinning wheel that had six containers. “Dogs only take a second or two to detect the virus,” the teacher explained. Kaywalee chatdarong, project manager at the veterinary faculty of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. “In one minute, they go through 60 samples”.

Chile, Finland and India are other countries that have also started testing to see if sniffer dogs detect the virus, and a German veterinary clinic said last month that its dogs achieved 94% detection accuracy in human saliva.

The Argentinian example

The Faculty of Veterinary Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires work on a multidisciplinary project related to the training of dogs for the detection of the viral agent coronavirus Severe acute respiratory syndrome type 2 (SARS-2) which causes COVID-19 disease.

The extraordinary olfactory capacity of dogs hhas long been trained to detect different substances such as Narcotics, explosives, currency, food at health barriers, in addition to the search for people living in natural disasters and collapsed structures, search for human remains or for forensic or criminal identification.

As reported by the university, in recent times they have also broadened their involvement in other types of human health detections. The changes that occur in the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that the human body emits when it contracts a disease are isolated from samples of blood, skin, sweat and urine for use in training. detectors. These compounds are isolated for use in the training of detector dogs.

“The project ended in December of last year. These explosives detection dogs have been worked and recycled be able to differentiate the smell of human sweat to be able to differentiate people who are positive for COVID-19 from negative ones. There were 9 dogs marking people “, count to Infobae a trainer who participated in the project.

“They recognize the scent through a reward, what is called a positive reinforcement system, when they approach a positive sample. These dogs already had the job of looking for explosives, it has become easier for them than dogs which detect drugs, because in these cases they can be more confused ”, concluded the specialist.

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