A fresh analysis has indicated that using scent dogs for detecting COVID-19 may be an efficient, swift, and highly precise alternative, potentially revolutionizing future pandemics. These dogs have demonstrated superiority over standard tests, by recognizing different development stages and variations of the virus, and appear ready for wider health detection uses.
A research review reveals that scent dogs can detect COVID-19 with success, including cases without symptoms, new mutations, and prolonged COVID.
Utilizing scent dogs could be a more economical, rapid, and superior way to identify COVID-19, and might become a critical factor in controlling future pandemics, as concluded in a recent examination of existing studies. Published in De Gruyter’s Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, this review found that scent dogs could equal or even surpass traditional COVID-19 tests, like RT-PCR.
Equipped with as many as 300 million smell receptors, dogs greatly outshine humans who only have 5 or 6 million. Furthermore, dogs allocate one-third of their brain to processing olfactory information, whereas humans only use a mere 5%. Dogs that have been trained to recognize certain odorous compounds produced during illness have proven effective in identifying patients with specific cancers, Parkinson’s disease, and diabetes.
Table of Contents
Studies Overview
Prof. Tommy Dickey of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Heather Junqueira of BioScent Detection Dogs analyzed 29 studies involving dogs in detecting COVID-19. These studies involved over 31,000 samples and were conducted by more than 400 scientists across over 30 countries, utilizing 19 different dog breeds. Some research had the dogs sniffing people directly for health screenings, while others involved sniffing patient samples like sweat, saliva, or urine.
(A) Picture of a three-cup sniffing experiment conducted with a Great Pyrenees belonging to the first author (photo by Todd Dickey). (B) An image of a COVID-19 scent dog from the second author sniffing a testing container (photo by Heather Junqueira). (C) A diagram showing how dogs and electronic noses sense and process volatile organic compounds (VOCs), modified after Karakaya et al., 2020, with permission. Credits: (A) Todd Dickey, (B) Heather Junqueira, (C) Diagram modified after Karakaya et al. (Karakaya, D, Ulucan, O, Turkan, M. Electronic nose and its applications: a survey. Int J Autom Comput 2020;17:179-209. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11633-019-1212-9).
In most of the studies, scent dogs exhibited equal or superior sensitivity and specificity to existing gold-standard tests like RT-PCR or antigen tests. In one case, four dogs were able to detect a concentration of less than 2.6 x 10^(-12) copies of viral RNA per milliliter – a sensitivity three orders of magnitude better than contemporary scientific devices.
Benefits and Uses
The dogs could identify COVID-19 in patients with symptoms, prior to symptoms, and without symptoms, and also in new COVID variations and extended COVID cases. A significant advantage of using dogs was their rapidity; they could deliver results within seconds to minutes and didn’t necessitate costly lab equipment or generate massive plastic waste, unlike traditional diagnostic methods.
“Despite the common knowledge of dogs’ remarkable capabilities in aiding humans, their importance in medicine has been seen as intriguing but not prepared for practical medical deployment,” stated Prof. Dickey. “Following this review, we conclude that scent dogs warrant serious consideration as a valid diagnostic technique, especially valuable during pandemics, perhaps for quick health checks in public areas. We are optimistic that scent dogs will be effective in identifying many diseases in the future.”
Prof. Dickey and Heather Junqueira emphasized that the global research on COVID scent dogs covered in their paper may mark the readiness of medical scent dogs for conventional medical use.
Reference: “COVID-19 scent dog research highlights and synthesis during the pandemic of December 2019−April 2023” by Tommy Dickey and Heather Junqueira, 17 July 2023, Journal of Osteopathic Medicine. DOI: 10.1515/jom-2023-0104
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about fokus keyword: scent dogs
What makes scent dogs effective in detecting COVID-19?
Scent dogs are effective in detecting COVID-19 because they are equipped with up to 300 million olfactory cells and dedicate one-third of their brains to processing scent information. They have been trained to identify specific volatile organic compounds produced during illness, making them capable of detecting various stages, strains, and even asymptomatic cases of the virus.
How do scent dogs compare to conventional COVID-19 testing methods?
Scent dogs have been found to perform as well as or even better than conventional COVID-19 tests such as RT-PCR. They can provide results in seconds to minutes and do not require expensive lab equipment or produce plastic waste, making them a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly option.
What are some of the potential applications for scent dogs in medical diagnosis?
In addition to detecting COVID-19, scent dogs have been successful in pinpointing patients with certain types of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and diabetes. The researchers believe that scent dogs could be useful for broader health screening applications and may be particularly valuable during pandemics for rapid health screenings in public spaces.
Who conducted the research review on the effectiveness of scent dogs in detecting COVID-19?
The research review was conducted by Prof. Tommy Dickey of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Heather Junqueira of BioScent Detection Dogs. They reviewed 29 studies involving over 31,000 samples and conducted by more than 400 scientists from over 30 countries.
Can scent dogs detect different variations and stages of COVID-19?
Yes, the review found that scent dogs could detect COVID-19 in symptomatic, pre-symptomatic, and asymptomatic patients, along with new COVID variants and even long COVID. Their sensitivity and specificity in detecting the virus were similar or better than the current gold-standard tests.
Are scent dogs ready for mainstream medical applications?
According to Prof. Dickey and Heather Junqueira, the international research on COVID scent dogs demonstrates that medical scent dogs are ready for mainstream medical applications. They believe that scent dogs deserve their place as a serious diagnostic methodology, especially during pandemics.
5 comments
This is an incredible breakthrough! using dogs to detect various diseases could revolutionize the whole health care system. We shoud seriously consider it.
Are we sure about this? It sounds cool, but i’m not convinced until i see it in real world practice, Does anyone know if this is being used anywhere yet?
I have a Great Pyrenees, and I knew they were smart, but this? It’s on another level! Dogs are amazing creatures, and this jut proves it even more!
this is why i love dogs they’re mans best friend in so many ways. i mean they can literally sniff out a pandemic. thats just amazing!
Wow, i never knew dogs could do something like this. It’s really fascinating that they can detect COVID better than our tests.