Discover Malaria .. A new game for dogs

LONDON (Reuters) – In a research laboratory room, Fria was enthusiastically driving through a row of bottles on their bases and mumbling in search of signs of illness.

The bottles all contained stockings, one of which belonged to a child carrying a malaria parasite. When I discovered Freya, a strain of Spanil Springer, the smell stopped and I sat next to the jar waiting for a reward.

"Dogs are able to distinguish between socks worn by parasitic children and children uninfected by malaria," said Claire Geast, co-founder of medical diagnostic dogs or medical dogs.

The association, created in 2008, hopes that its trials, which are still in its infancy, will allow dogs to join efforts to eliminate one of the world's deadliest diseases.

"Some smells are" yes "and some" no "and as soon as you know (dogs) … these rules start with the illness you want them to discover.The game is as follows: I discover the smell and I install myself in front of her to give you a price. "

Although death rates from malaria have declined, the World Health Organization (WHO) says that progress in the fight against malaria is likely to stop. Most of the victims are children under five years old from sub-Saharan Africa.

The World Health Organization said that malaria infected 216 million people worldwide in 2016 and killed 445,000 people, an increase of nearly 16,000 from 2015.

Researchers believe that the smell of the malaria parasite attracts the mosquito that spreads the disease.

"It's the same smell as dogs probably," said Steve Linzi, a professor at Durham University and senior author of the study.

The study is still in its infancy and research teams plan to test more if dogs can detect people with malaria. Researchers believe that entry dogs could be a quick and effective way to stop the parasite from crossing the border.

"If you already have people with malaria parasites, they probably have a very powerful odor index," said Lindsey.

The sensitivity of dogs to detect odors in the fight against other diseases has also been recognized. British authorities have approved experiments to train dogs to detect prostate cancer and intestines by sniffing urine.