sniffing out covid-19

By Sagarika Srinivasan, 2023

Published 12/21/20

COVID-19 is a threat we've all become accustomed to in our day to day lives. Things like travel have become problematic; especially on airlines. There may be something that can put people a little more at ease: dogs.

Dogs possess up to 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses and can detect odors 40 times greater than humans. We've used their “special powers” to help detect narcotics, bombs, people under rubble after natural disasters, and much more. This danger detection ability in Malaria, Parkinson's, and some cancers, has led scientists to wonder if it's applicable when it comes to recognizing the novel Coronavirus.

Researchers at Helsinki Airport are now testing out their hypothesis. Travelers are instructed to take a napkin and wipe sweat off their bodies and place the tissues in a cup. The dogs then sniff the cups to determine whether or not someone has COVID-19. The sniffing takes about 10 seconds with results delivered within a minute. During the preliminary tests, the dogs identified SARS-CoV2 with 100% accuracy and could recognize a COVID case while the person was asymptomatic. The airport trials are in their early stages, so no quantitative data is available yet. Nevertheless, many remain hopeful that dogs will play a vital role in the transition back to a "normal" life, playing an active role in our schools, retirement homes, and workspaces.