Dogs may be able to sniff out Covid-19 in infected patients, according to a new study by French scientists.
“We conclude that there is strong evidence that dogs can detect a person infected by the virus responsible for Covid-19 disease,” said professor Dominique Grandjean, who was part of the research team. He said the researchers used armpit odour samples because they contained a strong chemical signal indicating a possible pathogen in the body, but not the virus itself, so as not to put the animals’ safety at risk.“The likelihood of infectious transmission was minimal or non-existent,” Grandjean said.
China steps up legal protections for pangolinsOn two occasions, two of the dogs indicated a positive result for samples that the scientists had been told had come from people not infected with the coronavirus.