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Germany: Vets have taught dogs to detect Covid-19 patients

Hannover vets have taught tracking dogs to detect COVID-19 in saliva samples, Reuters reported. Animals are 94 percent effective. Tracking dogs are already helping to identify infected patients at Helsinki and Santiago de Chile airports.

Three-year-old Belgian Shepherd Dog Filou and one-year-old cocker spaniel Joe Cocker are among the dogs trained to detect “coronavirus smell” from the cells of infected people, reports the agency.

“Through their sense of smell, dogs can really distinguish between infected and uninfected people, and also identify Covid-19 patients, including those who do not show symptoms,” says researcher at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hanover, Prof. Holger Volk. She added that studies show that the animals detected the disease with an efficiency of 94 percent.We wrote about it HERE.

Stephan Weil, Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, where Hanover is located, said he was impressed with the first results and called for more research. According to him, tracking dogs could be used to secure mass events, e.g. concerts.

READ MORE: Finland: Coronavirus-sniffing dogs deployed at Helsinki airport. Researchers: They are close to 100% accuracy

Tracking dogs trained to detect samples of patients infected with the coronavirus have been working since September 2020 at the airport in the Finnish capital, Helsinki; dogs are also used for the same purpose at the airport in the Chilean capital, writes Reuters.

Source: Reuters, Polskiobserwator.de, Afronews.de