Disease - sniff dogs have been recruited into the conflict against the novelcoronavirus . AsThe Philadelphia Inquirerreports , the University of Pennsylvania ’s School of Veterinary Medicine is prepare eight Labrador retrievers to spot the computer virus and identify it in patients .
Before they can affix traditional examination , thedogsfirst must undergo something phone " odor imprinting " in a research laboratory setting . belike starting in early May , the dogs will spend three week smelling saliva and urine samples from citizenry who have tested positive for COVID-19 . teach the dogs the scent is just the first step in the physical process . Once their snouts have been expose to the new coronavirus , the dogs must show they can distinguish between COVID-19 - incontrovertible and COVID-19 - negative samples . They will also ultimately need to notice the computer virus in resilient patients — even those withoutsymptoms .
The smelling talents of certain dog breed have been apply to a variety of areas . Dogs have been trained to sniff outmalaria , bedbugs , and evenstolen fine art . In the case of COVID-19 , UPenn researchers are n’t certain if the dogs will learn to identify the actual virus or the body ’s response to it . In the preliminary stages of breeding , the labs will be working with still coronavirus sample , and when the dogs are eventually discover to it in people , they will be close monitored . There ’s only been one report cause of COVID-19 in adomestic dogin the U.S. so far .
The direct cuspid wo n’t be a full replacement for current tests , but they could offer a noninvasive alternative in some situations . Just as there are wiener that can sniff outexplosives , airports could eventually enlist hot dog to aid discontinue infected rider from boarding plane . business and hospitalsare other places that could benefit from having a way to riddle for asymptomatic newsboy without individually test them . computer virus - sniffing dogs could be deployed in real - biography scenarios as early as July 2020 .
[ h / tThe Philadelphia Enquirer ]
