Recently there has emerged a deadly virus that has everyone’s lives at stake. The virus is spreading so fast, and the more it is spreading, the more people are losing lives. Nonetheless, there is still hope. Doctors, researchers, and scientists are working day and night to see this deadly virus; The Corona Virus stops.
Could Sniffer Dogs be Used to identify CORONAVIRUS?
Some scientists believe that our canine friends can play a very important role in defeating this deadly virus. This hypothesis was proposed by experts from the Medical Detection Dogs found in the UK. They say that every disease such as malaria, Parkinson’s, and cancer has a unique odor. In this regard, they have trained specialist sniffer dogs to spot these diseases. If they could train these sniffer dogs to sniff cases of coronavirus, they would help prevent the spread of the virus. This would provide a fast and non-invasive screening process. The dog screening process would also reduce the need to use the NHS testing resources, which are limited, and they would only be used when they are needed.
Amazing Facts about dogs identifying the Coronavirus
This could be very helpful as the dogs would identify a patient who is Covid-19 positive within seconds. This is possible since dogs have sharp senses. They have been used to detect food, drugs, explosives, and other diseases as well. If they could train the dogs to detects a COVID-19 case, then they would be very efficient. The process would be fast, according to the BBC, they estimate that the dog could screen more than 750 people in just one hour, AMAZING!!. This is pretty fast compared to what we have now. It would also be more effective as they can sniff people with malaria more accurately compared to the World Health Organization standards for a diagnostic.
Effective ways to identify the Coronavirus
The Charity is working hand in hand with the Durham University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) to try and control this pandemic. The CEO of the Medical Detection Dogs said that it would take about six weeks to train the dogs to learn the smell of the coronavirus. The dogs would be trained in the same way as they are trained to sniff the other diseases by the charity. Once they are trained, the dogs will be able to sniff samples and show when they find it. These dogs are also trained to detect slight changes in the body temperature, which is very useful as this can be used to show if someone has a fever, which is one of the symptoms of the coronavirus.
The charity has been there since 2007, and they have done so much research that proves that every disease has a distinctive smell. If the coronavirus has a distinctive smell, the dogs will be able to detect the patients infected with the virus. They now just have to figure out how they can safely get the smell of COVID-19 from the patients. If they are successful, the whole process could be revolutionary. This simple screening could change a lot in helping stop the spread of the coronavirus. The dogs would be placed in airports to screen the visitors and those going out. The dogs would also be placed in public areas to help prevent the spread among people. This process is very efficient as the dog screens those infected as well as those that are not. These COVID-19 sniffer dogs will be there to help prevent the re-emergence and spread of the virus if it is brought to control. This is because they will detect the virus easily at the airports.
We now hope that the charity in collaboration with Durham University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) can catch the smell of the virus. Before then, we should keep ourselves safe and practice whatever we are asked by the government.
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