Known for their heightened ability to smell, dogs are being considered for use in the fight against the coronavirus, which has impacted countries all over the world. Scientists in the U.K. have teamed up with the charity Medical Detection Dogs to try and determine whether man’s best friend might provide the help needed in detecting this deadly virus.

A dog’s ability to smell

Dogs are known for their ability to smell. Compared to a human, dogs can smell between 10,000 to 100,000 times better, making them great for a variety of detection jobs. In addition to detecting such things as explosives, drugs, and human bodies, detection dogs are also used to detect certain medical conditions.

While mainly used to detect cancer, infections, and Parkinson’s in patients, the hope is that COVID-19 might be next. Medical Detection Dogs, based in the U.K., is partnering with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Durham University, which is located in northeast England, to try to determine if medical detection dogs provide a viable way to detect coronavirus.

The goal of the program

Fortunately, the organization already is already experienced in training dogs to detect a variety of other medical conditions. The hope is that the detection of COVID-19 will have similar results. In addition to the virus itself, a medical detection dog can also notice other subtle changes in a patient, such as a fever.

“In principle, we’re sure that dogs could detect COVID-19,” Claire Guest, founder and chief executive of Medical Detection Dogs, told Yahoo! News.

The biggest challenge is how to get the odor of the virus from the patient to the dog in a way that they don’t risk becoming infected. The ultimate goal is to be able to screen anyone, whether they have the virus or not, and be able to detect whether they need to be tested.

“This would be fast, effective, and non-invasive and make sure the limited NHS (National Health Service) testing resources are only used where they are really needed,” Guest said.

Future plans for the detection dogs

With the virus spreading at an alarming rate in the U.S. and abroad, the plan is to deploy the detection dogs to airports once the current pandemic is over, where they can screen passengers to identify those who are carrying the virus. This can help prevent further spread of COVID-19 in the future.

Initially, using detection dogs to sniff out coronavirus will only see limited use, as it will take a while to scale up to the number of detection dogs needed to meet the current need. And while COVID-19 detecting dogs won’t be of much use in the current crisis, it is hoped that they can soemday help prevent the re-emergence of the virus and contain any future outbreaks before they get out of hand.

For more information on Medical Detection Dogs and how you can donate, visit the charity’s Website or Facebook page. Check out the video below, which talks about medical detection dogs and the benefit they provide to society.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: MedicalDetectionDogs

H/T: Yahoo! News, New York Post, PBS