Super sniffing dogs detecting Covid faster than standard tests

Dogs are a human’s best friend and new Adelaide University research has revealed how they can help us in the fight against Covid.

Dogs are poised to become frontline health workers detecting Covid cases with Adelaide research showing they can sniff out cases faster and with more accuracy than any rapid antigen test currently used worldwide.

Puppy power could be unleashed in settings ranging from airports and hospitals to major events as a rapid and mobile screen tool after research lead by Adelaide University showed their strike rate for sniffing out the virus is more than 97 per cent.

Senior lecturer in the university’s School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences Dr Anne-Lise Chaber is leading this research in Australia, sharing results with collaborators in 22 countries.

She started the local project in 2020 in collaboration with the National Veterinary School in Alfort, France where early tests showed some dogs had 100 per cent success in detecting sweat from people who were Covid positive.

Those trials used experienced detection dogs, originally trained for explosives detection, search and rescue, or colon cancer diagnosis.

The Australian Covid program, also using experienced detector dogs, showed they had a “remarkable ability” to sniff out virus in more than 97 per cent of Covid-positive cases “even in symptom-free cases in controlled settings” Dr Chaber said.

“Specially trained dogs are able to sniff out and identify positive Covid-19 cases faster and earlier than PCR and more reliably than the rapid antigen tests currently used.

“We know that dogs are really good at detecting some other diseases, it’s proven.”

In June last year six dogs — four Australian Border Force detector dogs, one South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service dog and one dog from the University of Adelaide — commenced research trials at Adelaide Airport following a similar trial at Sydney Airport.

Dr Chaber has more than 10 years’ experience as a field epidemiologist in England, Botswana and the UAE, and has conducted research on the detection and transmission of multiple diseases including the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus.

Adelaide University Project Lead Investigator Dr Anne-Lise Chaber with Australian Border Force Detector Dog Handler Lisa Saunders with dogs Quake and Xena. Picture Simon Cross

Adelaide University says the canine fight against Covid “could be a pivotal moment in humanity’s broader fight against infectious disease.”

Dr Chaber will showcase the work including how the training works at the university at a free presentatioin at the Braggs Lecture Theatre on North Terrace on Tuesday 5.50pm-6.30pm. The event can be streamed online at https://www.adelaide.edu.au/research/events/research-tuesdays

Originally published as Super sniffing dogs detecting Covid faster than standard tests