Dogs are now being used to detect coronavirus. Corona detection is underway at the Helsinki airport in Finland with the help of specially trained dogs. Researchers are testing this method under a pilot project.
According to the British media The Guardian, the study is being carried out in the state of Finland. Hopefully, this method will be more affordable, effective and faster than PCR testing.
A team of researchers from the University of Helsinki is working on the project. They say it takes less than a minute to complete the whole process of detecting corona through a dog. A dog can detect coronavirus in passengers within 10 seconds. Their project will last for four months. Researchers say this new process is very promising. If it works, it will be much easier than other corona detection processes
Details of Corona's identification with the dog have been mentioned in the Guardian's report. Passengers are said to have been asked to rub a cloth around their necks upon arrival at Helsinki International Airport. The cloth is then filled into a jar and given to the dog. There are jars of scented clothes on the body of certain passengers as well as more jars of different scents. If the dog barks or kicks or lies on the floor with the smell of the passenger's body odor, it is assumed that coronavirus may be present in the body of the passenger. Then the passenger is being advised to do PCR test.
Researchers at the University of Helsinki have previously used dogs to identify patients with cancer and diabetes. As seen in the present project, the success of dogs in detecting coronavirus is almost one hundred percent. Even in people who had symptoms a few days ago, the presence of the virus has been accurately detected in dogs.
However, scientists have not been able to confirm how dogs detect the presence of coronavirus. According to a French study published last June, the smell of sweat in covid-positive people is different than in healthy people. Dogs can detect such odors.
Researchers in Australia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom are working on similar projects. However, Finland is the first country in Europe to implement it. Earlier last month, a test to identify the Covid-19 with a dog began at Dubai International Airport.
