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Covid-19 sniffer dogs could boost border protection in UK

Man’s best friend could soon be used to detect Covid-19 infected passengers across UK airports, potentially cutting long queues and bolstering efforts to contain transmission of the virus.

Early findings from a British study showed coronavirus has a unique odour that can be detected by specially trained sniffer dogs with up to 94 per cent accuracy.

Six dogs used in the study were trained to identify the virus using body odour samples on masks, socks and T-shirts donated by the public and NHS staff.

"We’re talking about a very, very reliable and accurate biosensor," Medical Detection Dogs scientific officer and the principal investigator on the trial, Claire Guest, said, describing the results as "remarkable".

The dog called Fantasy has been able to accurately sniff out coronavirus samples breathed into containers.

The canines were also able to identify infections caused by the Covid strain that was dominant through Britain last summer and the Kent version of the virus which appeared later in the year.

"What’s really incredible about these dogs is that they can do it really, really quickly. So each individual dog could screen up to 250 to 300 people per hour.

"What we also found was that the dogs are able to detect people who didn’t have any symptoms and also people with a low viral load," she added.

The next stage is to test the dogs in real world conditions with real people to see just how well they can do.

The research, yet to be peer reviewed, has been carried out in collaboration with The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Durham University.

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