Researchers at Germany's University of Hannover have trained dogs to identify SARS-CoV-2 in human saliva samples, delivering impressive results.
Trained dogs have demonstrated extraordinary olfactory skills, detecting cancers, the scent of epileptic seizures or malaria from socks, and even citrus greening disease devastating crops.
Inspired by these capabilities, experts are investigating if dogs can aid in the battle against COVID-19.
Multiple research efforts worldwide are training dogs to spot the novel coronavirus, potentially serving as an early screening tool in public venues to isolate suspected cases.
Earlier this year, we covered a UK project. France's initiative, led by Prof. Dominique Grandjean of the National Veterinary School of Alfort and head of the Paris Fire Brigade's veterinary service, is also advancing.
Hannover researchers recently shared initial findings in BMC Infectious Diseases.
In their study, eight tracking dogs underwent one week of training to differentiate infected saliva from uninfected controls. They then evaluated 1012 blind samples—some positive, some negative—with neither handlers nor researchers knowing the results in advance.
The dogs accurately identified 157 positive samples and 792 negative ones, while misclassifying 33 negatives as positive and missing around 30 positives.
This yielded an average sensitivity of 83% for positives and 96% for negatives, for an overall detection rate of 94%.
"The results of the study are incredibly exciting," said lead author Dr. Holger Volk. He noted this work lays a strong foundation for future research into the specific scents dogs detect and their ability to distinguish disease stages.
