By Brayden Yin

Dogs in London are being trained to detect COVID-19. James Logan,  head of the Department of Disease Control at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, is training dogs to recognize the smells of people who have COVID-19. 

To be tested for COVID-19 today, doctors will stick an uncomfortable Q-tip up your nose and wiggle it around a little. What’s more, you have to wait about a day to get the results. With dogs, you can immediately get the results without the dogs touching you. “When you have a disease, your body odor changes,” says Logan. Dogs have a sense of smell that is 40 times greater than ours, and they can smell viruses on a person.

The dogs used in virus detection are Spaniels, Labradors, and hybrid between the two.

This new virus detection system could be useful at big gatherings and sporting events. The dogs can walk through a line of people and if they sense coronavirus, they will stop and look in the direction of the person who they think is infected. This will be very efficient with people who are infected, but don’t have symptoms. 

COVID-19 isn’t the first virus outbreak, and it won’t be the last. With innovative ideas and scientists working for vaccines, virus threat can be minimized.

Sources:

https://www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/post/watch-dogs-are-being-trained-to-detect-covid-19 https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/dogs-sense-of-smell/