European countries could use Covid-sniffing dogs to reduce infections

Photo: AFP
Photo: AFP

Scientific studies in numerous European nations have discovered that trained dogs can precisely detect coronavirus in human perspiration, paving the way for quicker and less expensive initial Covid screening everywhere.

It should come as no surprise that multiple studies have proven that canines are capable of correctly identifying if a person has Covid-19 in 95% of cases given that their sense of smell is 10,000–100,000 times better than ours.

In the hopes that sniffer dogs will become a standard in schools, stadiums, airports, and other public areas, scientific teams across Europe are already training dogs to see how much they can fine-tune their sense of smell to Covid-19 (without them coming into direct contact with it).

There have been reports of successful trials thus far in Finland, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, and Italy.

This quick and affordable pre-screening technique could reduce expenses, save lives, and benefit nations with limited lab testing capacity.