At Helsinki-Vantaa Airport in Finland, trained sniffer dogs have been screening international arrivals for COVID-19 for several days now.
Dogs have long demonstrated remarkable olfactory abilities, detecting cancers, seizures, malaria, and even citrus greening disease devastating U.S. crops. Building on this, researchers worldwide have explored their potential for COVID-19 detection.
A French study showed dogs distinguishing COVID-positive underarm sweat from healthy samples with 95% accuracy. German research using saliva samples achieved 94% accuracy.
University of Helsinki trials took it further: dogs identified the virus from skin wipes with nearly 100% certainty. This innovative approach is now in action at the airport.
A small team of these elite dogs, supported by Finavia, has been working at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.
"We are among the pioneers," said airport manager Ulla Lettijeff. "As far as we know, no other airport has deployed canine scent detection on this scale against COVID-19. We're pleased with the City of Vantaa's initiative—this could mark a significant advance in combating the coronavirus."
Passengers with allergies or fears needn't worry: there's no direct contact with the dogs. Wipes swabbed on skin are placed in a separate booth where the four dogs sniff them. Positive alerts direct passengers to health stations.
These dogs excel at spotting the virus days before symptoms emerge.
Beyond early detection, results are instant—far quicker than lab tests—and require minimal samples (10-100 molecules vs. 18 million for PCR).
Per The Guardian, this four-month pilot will be evaluated for potential wider rollout.
