September 24, 2020

Anna Murray 

On September 24th in Finland, University of Helsinki pointed out specially-trained dogs might be a new tool to recognize coronavirus. The success rate of these "corona dogs" sniffing out COVID-19 ranges 94 to 100 percent.

The results of the preliminary tests showed that trained scent detection dogs seem to recognize the deadly virus faster and be more sensitive than plenty of the existing tests on the market.

Four sniffer dogs were deployed at Helsinki airport in Vantaa, Finland, on September 22nd, as part of a pilot scheme supervised by researchers at the University of Helsinki. The testing of voluntary passengers and airport staff will be conducted through sample, in order not to scare the animals and people who are allergic to dogs.

According to the researchers, once the pilot project succeeds, the “corona dogs" will be deployed in various fields such as nursing homes, retirement centers, customs and other border points. In addition, medical care sector professionals could be tested by these well-trained dogs, assisting to avoid unnecessary quarantine.

Photo:Webshot.