Steve Lindsay, Durham University ” We were looking for a quick and reliable test for Covid-19. From our previous work with dogs, we knew they were capable of detecting people with malaria by smell. So we thought: let’s see if our dogs can recognize people with Covid by the smell.””First, we collected odor samples from people with and without Covid. To do this, we gave them face masks, socks and shirts to capture the smells.””The special thing was that we found a very clear Covid smell. There is a clear difference between the smell of people who were infected and those who were not infected. Dogs can tell the difference.””We trained six of our animals on this smell.”O-Ton Claire Guest, Managing Director” Medical Detection Dogs “” I have worked with these dogs. It’s amazing how accurately you can identify the smell of Covid-19 on a small piece of sock that was worn seven months ago.””The result of this work is that dogs could be used for rapid, non-invasive diagnosis of humans, even if they have not developed symptoms or have not yet developed them.””This can help us especially when people start to travel again. Hopefully, we can help return to a more normal life as soon as possible.”
