Can Dogs Detect Corona Virus?

In different countries, training and experiments are being accelerated to use dogs to detect COVID-19 disease. Studies on whether dogs can detect coronavirus in the USA, France and England are carried out by research groups.

In England, the government announced that it supported 500 thousand pounds for the studies carried out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) and Medical Detection Dogs.

In the next two weeks, dogs will begin sniffing trials; If success is achieved at this stage, the second stage trials will take place four months later. Authorities hope that dogs will be used to detect coronavirus within six months.

In many countries, the fact that coronavirus tests cannot be performed frequently enough is considered important in terms of dogs offering a solution in this regard. Dogs are currently used to detect some types of cancer, Parkinson's, malaria and some diseases caused by bacteria, drugs and explosives.

Scientists and government officials also say that the success of these experiments would be 'revolutionary'.

In the UK, Innovation Minister James Bethell says the dogs can be used under the government's broad coronavirus testing policy, but this may be at the discretion of being able to rely on 'COVID dogs'.

In the first phase of the tests in the UK, scent samples collected from National Health System (NHS) doctors and Covid-19 patients working in London hospitals will be used. In the first stage, these tests will be performed on six dogs.

Each dog can inspect up to 250 people an hour, and they are trained to detect disease as much as a teaspoon of sugar in an area the size of two Olympic pools.

Dogs trained to detect coronavirus in France
source:Getty Images

Prof. A team led by Dominique Grandjean is organizing studies and training for dogs to detect COVID-19. Eight dogs are being trained to detect COVID-19 disease on the French island of Corsica.

Aymeric Bernard, head of dog training at the fire department in Corsica, told AFP news agency that these dogs are normally used to find people who are missing or buried.

Boston Dynamics 'dog-shaped robots are used in the USA to cut doctors' contact with the disease.
Source:Getty Images

Likewise, eight dogs are being trained to detect the disease at the University of Pennsylvania in the USA.

On the other hand, not only real dogs, but also robot dogs are used in the fight against coronavirus. The dog-shaped robot of US-based robot manufacturer Boston Dynamics is used both to maintain social distance in parks in Singapore and to reduce the contact of doctors with the disease in the USA.

If such a thing happens, our animal friends will save our lives again and this will be a revolution.