Coronavirus latest: Can dogs detect Covid-19? Here is what scientists say

Coronavirus latest news: Dogs seem to have the ability to detect Covid-19 infections! However, researchers have opined that large-scale studies are required before adopting the approach. Dog trainers across the world have been training to detect Coronavirus infections by sniffing and have claimed that canines indeed are being able to detect the Coronavirus accurately, as per media reports.

Experts have said dogs’ ability to detect Coronavirus may prove to be pivotal in controling the Covid-19 pandemic. This is because dogs can screen hundreds of people in crowded places like airports, bus stands, rail stations, markets, etc. and it will take less time and prove to be less costly than Covid-19 testing, media reports said.

However, all these findings related to the dogs’ ability to sniff and detect Covid-19 are yet to be published in peer-reviewed journals. This is the reason why the scientific fraternity is yet to evaluate the findings and come to any conclusion. While experts have said that initial results were promising but they need more concrete evidence to scale up the process involving dogs.

Earlier in August, Chilean police started training sniffer dogs to detect the presence of the Covid-19 virus in people’s sweat at an early stage, after a similar trial in the United Kingdom showed encouraging results. Sniffer dogs are best-known for detecting drugs, explosives, and people but have also previously been trained to detect other diseases including malaria, cancer, and Parkinson’s Disease, as per a Reuters report.

The British government had also allocated GBP 500,000 funds towards the research, which will be conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Durham University, and a British charity – Medical Detection Dogs to test Dogs’ ability to sniff out whether people are infected with COVID-19, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, a pilot project was started at Finland’s Helsinki-Vantaa airport involving trained dogs to detect Covid-19 infections in people.