Tag: COVID detection dogs

Now There’s More Proof that Dogs Can Successfully Sniff Out COVID

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.

 

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Dogs, Not Swabs, Test Miami Airport Employees for COVID

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.

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.

Photo: Miami International Airport

COVID Detection Dogs Will Check Miami Heat Fans

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.”

Photo: NBA

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