COVID-sniffing dogs could be used to detect the coronavirus at ports of entry, potentially reducing long waits at testing lines and strengthening efforts to contain transmission, according to a U.K. study.
Two dogs could accurately scan 300 plane passengers in about half an hour as part of a rapid screening strategy, scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said in research published Monday. Then only the people selected by the dogs would need to undergo a PCR test.
There’s growing evidence that dogs can identify COVID patients in much the same way they sniff out bombs, drugs or other diseases. Pathogens produce unique volatile organic compounds released by ailing cells. These smells could be used to fight outbreaks earlier on in the future, the researchers wrote, arguing the approach is fast, cheap and non-invasive.
“The current methods of testing for COVID-19 are not suitable for rapid screening of large numbers of people, such as people found in airports or other public venues where you’ve got to screen a lot of people very quickly,” James Logan, head of the department of disease control at the London School of Hygiene, said in a briefing Friday. “For other disease outbreaks in the future, we think dogs could be deployed quickly to screen people and help stop the outbreak when it first begins.”