Monday 16 May 2022 11:40 PM Sniffer DOGS are better at spotting Covid than actual tests, says study trends now
Sniffer dogs are even better at spotting Covid than tests, according to the strongest evidence yet.
Throughout the pandemic, scientists have said that dogs' keen sense of smell can be harnessed to detect those carrying the virus.
But promising lab results — from dogs being exposed to samples in highly controlled situations — needed to be replicated in real-world conditions.
New results, from the University of Helsinki, show labrador retrievers and white shepherds can spot up to 97 per cent of positive cases.
And trained dogs are 99 per cent accurate when confirming who is virus-free among airport passengers, the study claimed.
For comparison, studies show lateral flow tests detect up to 72 per cent of cases, while PCR tests are thought to be between 85 and 98 per cent accurate.
Finnish researchers said dogs can be a 'valuable tool to contain the pandemic' when used at airports and other mass gatherings.
Researchers from the University of Helsinki trained four dogs — labrador retrievers Silja, Rele, and Kosti and a white shepherd called E.T. (pictured at Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport) — to sniff out Covid in spring 2020
Results show canines can spot up to 97 per cent of positive cases. And trained dogs are 99 per cent accurate when confirming who is virus-free among airport passengers, the study claimed. Pictured: Kosti at Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport
New results, from a University of Helsinki study, show canines can spot up to 97 per cent of cases and are 99 per cent accurate when confirming who is virus-free. Pictured: White Shepherd E.T. inside the test room indicating the sample in the middle, number two, as positive for Covid by putting one paw on it
The researchers said their findings suggest that dogs, which can sniff out malaria Parkinson's and cancer, can act as a virus screening method when tests aren't available — such as in the early stages of a pandemic. Pictured: purpose-built cubciles at Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport in Finland, where the dogs sniffed samples from passengers
Dogs have never been used in the UK's pandemic response. But as part of trials that could see them wheeled out in airports, they were deployed at Paddington Station in London.
Sniffer dogs are already used to warn of epileptic fits, cancer and Parkinson's.
Dogs can pick up a scent at levels as low as one part per trillion — the equivalent of a teaspoon of sugar in two Olympic-sized swimming pools.
It is thought they are able to detect compounds quietly released by the body when it is ill.
The Helsinki team trained four dogs — labrador retrievers Silja, Rele, and Kosti and a white shepherd called E.T. — to sniff out Covid in spring 2020.
The dogs were exposed to skin samples — swabs taken from the neck, forehead and wrists — of 114 volunteers who
