A research team from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand has successfully trained six Labrador sniffer dogs to sniff out asymptomatic infections of the Chinese Communist virus (Neocoronavirus) by scent, with an accuracy rate of nearly 95%. This is a diagram of Labrador dogs.
Chulalongkorn University in Thailand has announced that a research team has successfully trained six dogs to detect asymptomatic patients with the Chinese Communist virus (NCCV) by scent, with an accuracy rate of nearly 95%. The six dogs are currently being prepared to be stationed at airports for quarantine work.
According to Thai media reports, the six-month research project is divided into three phases. The first phase is to train the dogs to distinguish the scent of infected people; the second phase is for these “screening dogs” to work in airports, ports and lively tourist venues, sniffing human feet; and the third phase will develop a sensor device to detect patients at risk of infection.
In the initial study, researchers collected sweat samples from infected patients, including swabs of sweat from the patient’s armpits and sweaty socks, and then placed them in jars in a biosecurity lab for the sniffer dogs to sniff.
If the dog smells the odor during quarantine, it will immediately sit down, which means that this patient is infected and is an asymptomatic patient. In addition, all experimental procedures are carried out to ensure the safety of the dog and the people involved.
Professor Kaywalee Chadarong, associate dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Chulalongkorn University and head of the research team, said that the use of various body temperature testing devices can only initially screen for patients infected with the CCP virus, and this is only useful for patients who show symptoms of infection. However, most of the patients are asymptomatic infection, using the instrument is not detected, but the dog through training is possible to do, so the project was created.
She added, “Since a dog’s sense of smell is 50 times more sensitive than a human’s in detecting odors. We decided to train Labradors because they have long enough nasal passages and their sense of smell is extremely acute. In addition, they are friendly to people and easy to train. In the future, we also plan to train the dogs to detect diseases such as diabetes, depression, malaria and Alzheimer’s disease (commonly known as dementia).”
These sniffer dogs need only one to two seconds to detect the virus, and “in one minute, they will try to finish screening 60 samples.” Chadarom said.
According to Chulalongkorn University’s journal website, the six sniffer dogs, trained by researchers at the university’s School of Veterinary Medicine, found asymptomatic patients with an accuracy rate of 94.8 percent, which is quite high compared to other countries that use sniffer dogs, such as Finland, France, Germany and Australia.
After more than two months of training, the six Labradors are ready for duty at Thai airports, seaports, land border crossings and tourist attractions.
The research project is understood to be the result of a joint effort by the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Sciences of Chulalongkorn University, with funding from Chevron. Border Patrol Police and PQA Security Consultants Risk Assessment (PQA Associates Co) are also participating together to help train the sniffer dogs.
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