Dogs in US being taught to smell coronavirus in patients

‘Their capacity to detect Covid-19 could be substantial’

Dogs in the US are being trained to detect Covid-19 in patients, to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

In the trial programme, run by the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine, eight dogs will be trained over the course of three weeks to sniff out coronavirus from urine and saliva samples.

Dr Cynthia Otto, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said in a statement, that dogs already have the ability to sniff out other dangerous conditions.

“Scent detection dogs can accurately detect low concentrations of volatile organic compounds, otherwise known as VOCs, associated with various diseases such as ovarian cancer, bacterial infections, and nasal tumours. These VOCs are present in human blood, saliva, urine or breath,” she said.

The study is hoping that dogs will be able to help tackle the pandemic, by identifying coronavirus patients, even if they are asymptomatic.

Dr Otto added that “the potential impact of these dogs and their capacity to detect Covid-19 could be substantial.

“This study will harness the dog’s extraordinary ability to support the nation’s Covid-19 surveillance systems, with the goal of reducing community spread.”​

This is not the first study to see if dogs can be trained to smell coronavirus in patients, as in the UK, Durham university, alongside the Medical Detection Dogs charity and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, started research into the possibility last month.

Six dogs are being trained in that programme, and the researchers hope that they will know if they can sniff out Covid-19 in a few weeks.

“A dog is sniffing each person in turn — it takes 0.5 of a second, the dog quickly identifies which people need a test and need to go straight into isolation to prevent the further spread around the UK,” Dr Claire Guest, the founder of Medical Detection Dogs wrote.

“This would be fast, effective and non-invasive and make sure the limited NHS testing resources are only used where they are really needed,” she added.

According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, there are now upwards of one million people who have tested positive for coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached at least 68,406.