Dogs could detect malaria in humans, study finds

EFE

Washington .- Sniffer dogs are able to detect malaria in humans, having been specially trained to acquire this ability, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the United States. American Society of Tropical Medicine in New Orleans (Louisiana, USA).

Researchers at the University of Durham (UK) found that dogs can smell malaria in sock samples worn by infected children, a discovery that could lead to the first screening test "fast and non-invasive". of this deadly disease.

"Although our investigations are at an early stage, we have shown that dogs can be trained to detect people infected with malaria by their odor with a high degree of accuracy," said the author. Principal Steve Lindsay.

The Lindsay-led team hopes that dogs trained in follow-up "can help stop the spread of malaria between countries and ensure that infected people are screened early and treated quickly."

"This could be a non-invasive way of detecting diseases at entry points in the same way that dogs are used to detect fruit or drugs at airports," said the scientist.

The research, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, focused on the study of nylon socks of children ages 5 to 14 apparently healthy in a region of The Gambia.

Samples of socks were transported to the UK, where two dogs, a golden retriever labrador, Lexi, and a farmer, Sally, were trained to distinguish between the odor of children infected with malaria and those of others in good health.

A total of 175 sock samples were badyzed, including those of 30 children with malaria and 145 children not affected by this disease.

Dogs were able to correctly identify 70% of the samples infected with malaria and were able to correctly identify 90% of the samples without parasites of this disease.

According to the latest World Malaria report from the World Health Organization (WHO), there would have been 216 million cases of malaria in 2016, an increase of five million over the previous year. Previous year. that there were 445,000 dead.

Another of the study's lead authors, Claire Guest, stated that the findings of this report were "extremely exciting for the future", as, if confirmed, this is an extremely accurate and non-invasive test. .