Here's another reason to love dogs. We already know canines can sniff out explosives, drugs, and other public safety hazards. Now researchers around the world are trying to find out if they can sniff out people who have coronavirus.
Phillyvoice.com reports using dogs could help bring the coronavirus pandemic under control. Could man's best friend potentially screen hundreds of people an hour at places like airports? It's possible, and would be much more efficient than conventional tests.
Dogs have already been used to detect certain cancers, malaria and Parkinson's disease. Now early research from France and Lebanon shows that dogs could smell coronavirus in people, based on the smell of their sweat. Dogs are being used in Finland and Chile, too.
In fact, six dogs tested had a success rates of 76% to 100% at sniffing out positive cases. Two dogs that had been used for detecting colon cancer had a success rate of 100% in the 68 tests they participated in!
Scientists say this is a promising first step in proving dogs can detect coronavirus cases.
Right here in Philadelphia, The University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine launched a study in April with dogs, to see if they could sniff out covid.
Man's best friend, indeed.