Detecting COVID-19 has become quite an odyssey and for that in Germany they have used trained dogs to detect COVID-19 with a 94% effectiveness. Due to the success that has been obtained thanks to the dogs, the authorities are analyzing the possibility of using canine to detect COVID-19 in time in crowded places.
Great news to control COVID-19
In Germany, a veterinary clinic has trained beagle dogs, the objective is to detect COVID-19 through human saliva samples as it is 94% effective. These dogs are trained to detect the smell of corona, which comes from the cells of infected people, said Esther Schalke, a veterinarian with the service dog school of the German armed forces.
Trained by now are two dogs Filou, a three-year-old Belgian Shepherd, and Joe Cocker, a cocker spaniel who are trained at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover. The dogs are trained at the Hannover veterinary college in northern Germany. This training school claims to have developed a good method that allows their dogs to sniff out the COVID-19 in human saliva samples with 94% accuracy.
Among the dogs who have been trained to detect the smell of the Coronavirus that emanates from the cells of infected people, in the study their has been a 94% probability that they can smell them and recognize the virus. Since this specific breeds are able to sniff out patients with Coronaviruses which can be asymptomatic and symptomatic.
For his part, the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, the state of which Hannover is the capital, said he was impressed with the study and asked for feasibility tests before the dogs can be used in everyday life, such as people who attend to concerts. “Now we need tests in selected events” he affirms.
Around the world
Bloodhound dogs have become the best detectors against COVID-19 not only in Germany but in other parts of the world. There are also dogs that have been trained in Finland to detect the Coronavirus buy sniffing samples of passengers at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport in Finland. And on the other hand in the international airport of Santiago de Chile it is also using canine detectors. It is expected that in the next few days Costa Rica will start a canine training in order to successfully activate this same mechanism.
