What’s faster than a rapid antigen test for sniffing out COVID, 97% accurate and a whole lot preferable to a nasal swab? That would be a trained dog’s nose, according to a new study.
The fact that dogs can successfully sniff out COVID isn’t exactly breaking news. Way back in the early days of the pandemic — it sure seems like years ago but it was actually July 2020 — a study found that trained dogs could sniff out the virus in human saliva and respiratory secretions with 94% accuracy.
The latest study found trained dogs’ accuracy to be even greater, and it also discovered that dogs can also detect COVID in people with no symptoms.
During the study, which was conducted early last year in France, five dogs who’d received three to six weeks of training sniffed 335 human sweat samples. When the dogs detected COVID in a sample, they would sit and be rewarded with a toy. They were super speedy, taking only 15 seconds to sniff 20 samples.
The dogs were a little less accurate in detecting COVID-free samples. They identified 91% correctly — which is still pretty doggone amazing.
“The dog doesn’t lie,” Dominique Grandjean, one of the researchers and a veterinarian at the National School of Veterinary Medicine of Alfort in Maisons-Alfort, told Science News.
Trained COVID-sniffing dogs have already been put to work in airports around the world. Back in September 2021, the Miami International Airport (MIA) started using specially trained dogs to sniff out COVID in airport employees. Earlier last year, the Miami Heat became the first NBA team to sniff out fans at the AmericanAirlines Arena.
With COVID cases on the rise yet again, trained dogs may need to be around for a while. If you think you may have COVID, get tested right away — don’t rely on your own untrained dog to detect it! Here are some tips for what dog owners should do if they are infected with the virus.
Last January, the Miami Heat became the first NBA team to use trained COVID-sniffing dogs to check for the virus before fans entered the AmericanAirlines Arena.
Eight months later, Miami is once again making history. This time around, the Miami International Airport (MIA) has put a team of these specially trained dogs to work, sniffing out COVID-19 in airport employees.
“We’re blessed in Miami-Dade County to have the first COVID-sniffing dogs, and it’s the first airport anywhere utilizing this type of technology in our four-legged friends,” Miami-Dade Commission Chair Jose ‘Pepe’ Diaz said at a news conference, CBS News Miami reports. “So, to us, it’s very important for us to grow the number of dogs that are doing this.”
Doing the sniffing during this pilot program are a Belgian Malinois named Cobra (that’s her in the photo above) and a Dutch Shepherd named One Betta. Both dogs are 7 years old and were trained at the Global Forensic and Justice Center (GFJC) at Florida International University (FIU). The pilot program is a joint effort between MIA and GFJC.
Here’s how it works: At the employee security checkpoint, employees remove their masks so Cobra and One Betta can sniff the face coverings. COVID causes the production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that people excrete through their breath and sweat. It takes about two to three months to train dogs to detect the scent of these VOCs.
If Cobra or One Betta indicate that an MIA employee has the scent, the employee will be asked to get a rapid COVID test, while the dog will be rewarded with playtime with a Kong toy.
We’ve officially let the dogs out and become the 1️⃣st U.S. airport to test COVID-sniffing canines ?.
These furry friends are part of a pilot program with our partners @FIU, and are assigned to an employee checkpoint in Concourse D ?.
Being sniffed by a dog has to be much more comfortable than having a swab shoved up your nostril, right? (That alternative is still available to any MIA employees who somehow prefer it.)
It may be just as effective, too: A July 2020 study found that trained dogs could sniff out COVID-19 in human saliva and respiratory secretions with 94% accuracy. One Betta and Cobra are even better than this. Dr. Kenneth G. Furton, FIU provost and professor of chemistry and biochemistry, told the Washington Post the dogs have amazing accuracy percentage rates of 98.1 and 99.4, respectively.
One Betta and Cobra have already successfully detected two COVID cases. One MIA employee tested positive after taking the rapid COVID test and the other employee was recovering from COVID.
Although these two dogs are both purebreds, Furton said any breed or mix can be trained to detect COVID. The two other dogs in the pilot program are mixed-breed “pound puppies,” he told the Washington Post.
If all goes well with the MIA pilot program, it will likely expand to include travelers as well as employees. And if that goes well, until COVID is finally eradicated, hopefully COVID-sniffing dogs will become a familiar sight in every major airport.
There’s good news for Miami Heat fans who want to attend a game in person at the AmericanAirlines Arena. Instead of having long swabs inserted up their nostrils to test for COVID-19, attendees will be checked by COVID-19 detection dogs who’ll use their own noses to get results within 10 seconds.
About 1,500 season ticket holders will be allowed into the arena for the game on Jan. 28. That is, unless a COVID-19 detection dog sniffs out the virus. In that case, the fan and everyone in their party will get a refund and be asked to leave, even if the fan has proof of a previously negative COVID test. Additional safety protocols will also be in place, such as a requirement for everyone older than 2 years old to wear a mask, physical distancing, and a ban on eating and drinking inside the arena.
Fans who are uncomfortable around dogs can be tested for COVID-19 the traditional way, but it will take about 45 minutes as opposed to several seconds.
The Miami Heat is the first NBA team to use Coronavirus-sniffing dogs this way, but it very likely won’t be the last. If all goes well, the team will increase the number of COVID-19 detection dog teams from four to at least 10 for future games.
“We’re taking a little bit of a leap forward,” Matthew Jafarian, the team’s executive vice president of business strategy, told the Washington Post. “We’re out in front on this, but like with anything new, somebody’s got to take the first step.”
The dogs are being provided by a company that trains dogs to detect COVID-19 as well as explosive devices and prohibited agriculture products at airports. When a dog sniffs out COVID-19, they alert their handler by sitting down. The dogs have been trained to sniff out the active virus and won’t signal if someone has received the vaccine.
A July 2020 study found that trained dogs could sniff out COVID-19 in human saliva and respiratory secretions with 94% accuracy. Although the dogs’ noses are very accurate, Jafarian warned that if they do sniff out COVID-19, it “is not considered a diagnostic test.”
Thanks to the Coronavirus-sniffing dogs and other safety measures, Jafarian told the Washington Post the Miami Heat believes “it’s going to be safer in our arena than getting on an airplane, sitting next to all these people who aren’t tested, or eating at a restaurant, where everybody’s not masked — it’s going to be safer than all those things.”
“You tell people that your dog was positive, and they look at you [as if you have] ten heads,” his owner, Allison Mahoney, told National Geographic. “[Buddy] was the love of our lives….He brought joy to everybody. I can’t wrap my head around it.”
Was it COVID-19 that killed 7-year-old Buddy, who died on July 11? In early June, he was expected to make a full recovery.
Maybe, or maybe not. Buddy also probably had lymphoma, a type of cancer, according to two veterinarians who reviewed the dog’s medical records but had not been involved with his treatment. It’s not clear whether Buddy died from COVID-19, or if the infection made his cancer symptoms worse, or if he would have died from lymphoma even if he didn’t have COVID-19.
Buddy’s symptoms began in April, when he had difficulty breathing and lost his appetite. Allison’s husband, Robert Mahoney, had already been diagnosed with COVID-19 and suspected that Buddy might have it, too. At that time, a Pug named Winston in North Carolina had (mistakenly) been diagnosed with the disease. The Mahoney family’s other dog, a young German Shepherd named Duke, showed no symptoms.
After a month of visits to three different animal hospitals and as Buddy’s symptoms worsened, on May 15 a private veterinary laboratory agreed to test the dog for COVID-19 — and got a presumptive positive result. The sample was sent to the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL), which confirmed it. “This is the first dog in the United States to test positive for SARS-CoV-2,” the NVSL announced on June 2.
Duke tested negative for the virus but did have antibodies in his system, indicating that he may have been exposed, according to the NVSL.
Five days after that positive test, Buddy tested negative for COVID-19, meaning he no longer was infected with the virus.
Buddy’s condition did not improve at all, however. When he began vomiting blood on July 11, the Mahoney family made the difficult decision to end their beloved dog’s suffering. Even though a necropsy — an autopsy for animals — may have provided a clue into what was causing Buddy’s symptoms, the Mahoneys weren’t offered that option. “I would have said, ‘Take whatever you need,’ because I don’t want any other dog to suffer like he did,” Robert told National Geographic.
The Mahoneys are frustrated that public officials showed little interest in Buddy’s case, which could have potentially lead to discoveries about how COVID-19 affects pet dogs. But the Mahoneys are sure that Buddy’s veterinarians did all that they could for their dog. “I think they are learning as well,” Allison told National Geographic. “It’s all trial and error. And they tried to help us the best way they can.”
Although Buddy is gone, his loving family is also helping the best way they can by telling their heartbreaking story to National Geographic reporter Natasha Daly. Rest in peace, Buddy.
A lot of dog owners were pretty alarmed in April by the news that Winston, a 2-year-old Pug who lives in Chapel Hill, N.C., had tested positive for the coronavirus. Until then, there were cases of humans, tigers and cats being infected with COVID-19. Could dogs really get it, too?
The good news: The USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) has announced that Winston probably didn’t really have the coronavirus.
The bad news: The NVSL also confirmed that a German Shepherd in New York did indeed have the virus. “This is the first dog in the United States to test positive for SARS-CoV-2,” the agency stated.
The good news: The German Shepherd is expected to make a full recovery.
Like Winston, the German Shepherd’s unidentified owner tested positive for COVID-19 before the dog began showing symptoms of respiratory illness. And, like Winston, another dog in the German Shepherd’s household did not test positive for the virus. The other dog did have the antibodies, however, indicating that he or she had been exposed to COVID-19.
The NVSL was unable to verify that Winston had COVID-19. “The weak detection … from the original oral swab may be the result of contamination from the COVID-19 positive household,” agency representative Lyndsay Cole told USA TODAY.
Winston had been coughing frequently and lost his appetite for a day. His dog mom, Dr. Heather McLean, is a pediatrician at Duke Health. She and two other members of her family were also infected with COVID-19. They all had mild symptoms. The family’s other dog and a cat did not test positive.
So, how were family pets able to be tested for COVID-19 when thousands of humans are still waiting to be tested?
As for Winston, his family is participating in a Duke University study that’s researching how bodies react to infections. The study, called the Molecular and Epidemiological Study of Suspected Infection (MESSI), was launched before the pandemic. The results will hopefully lead to effective tests and treatments for infections like COVID-19.
On April 1, MESSI researchers came to her home to test her family. “They all came out to our house and did blood samples,” McLean told WRAL. “For the humans, they swabbed our noses as well as our mouths, and for the animals they did oral swabs for both dogs and the cat.”
The German Shepherd tested presumptive positive for SARS-CoV-2 at a private veterinary laboratory. The results were reported to state and federal officials. More samples were collected from the dog and the result was confirmed by the NVSL.
“While additional animals may test positive as infections continue in people, it is important to note that performing this animal testing does not reduce the availability of tests for humans,” the NVSL said in its announcement.
If you’re concerned about your own dog getting COVID-19, McLean said you shouldn’t worry too much about it. “We’re not seeing an epidemic of household pets or them transmitting it to other humans and animals — we just happened to detect it in our dog,” she told USA TODAY in late April.
In early March, a dog belonging to someone with the coronavirus in Hong Kong was believed to be the first pet dog in the world to get the virus from a human.
The NVSL stated that “there’s currently no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading the virus. Based on the limited information available, the risk of animals spreading the virus to people is considered to be low. There is no justification in taking measures against companion animals that may compromise their welfare.” A list of animals that have tested positive for COVID-19 is available on the USDA website.
Protecting Your Dog from COVID-19
To help prevent your dog from being infected with COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that you do the following:
Don’t let your dog interact with other people or animals outside your home.
Walk your dog on a leash and stay at least 6 feet away from other people and animals.
Even if they’re open in your area, avoid dog parks and other public places where people and dogs congregate.
If you have been infected with COVID-19:
If at all possible, have another family member or friend take care of your dog.
If you must be around your dog, wear a face mask and wash your hands frequently.
The hard part: Avoid touching, kissing, snuggling or otherwise interacting with your dog.
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