Dogs Can Detect COVID-19 Better Than Common Tech, New Study Claims

New research suggests that dogs could be highly effective in detecting COVID-19, outperforming even the advanced technological approaches.

A series of studies conducted over the past couple of years highlights the remarkable ability of trained scent dogs to identify the presence of the elusive virus, including its various mutations that other respiratory infections like the common cold or flu might mask.

Growing Consensus on Dogs Detecting COVID-19

Professor Emeritus Tommy Dickey from UC Santa Barbara, along with collaborator Heather Junqueira from BioScent, Inc., has compiled a review of these studies, indicating a growing consensus among researchers.

Their analysis underscores the effectiveness of dogs in detecting COVID-19 compared to commonly used antigen and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests.

It is worth noting that dogs possess an exceptional olfactory capability, with hundreds of millions of olfactory receptors and a large portion of their brains dedicated to processing scents.

This evolutionary adaptation enables them to detect minute concentrations of odor associated with COVID-19 infections. According to Dickey, they can also identify an odorous substance equivalent to a single drop in over 10 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Additionally, these scent dogs demonstrate the ability to differentiate COVID-19 and its variants from other respiratory viruses, even when present in the same environment. The speed and precision of their detection process are impressive, providing a yes-or-no answer within seconds of sniffing a sample.

The dogs' proficiency extends to challenging scenarios. In some cases, they identified COVID-19 in pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals with viral loads too low for conventional tests.

The accuracy of their diagnosis showcases their potential to serve as a frontline diagnostic tool, especially in situations where swift results are crucial to prevent virus spread.

While certain breeds like beagles, basset hounds, and coonhounds are particularly adept at using their sense of smell, other breeds exhibit strong potential after training.

Puppies, older dogs, males, females, purebreds, and mixed breeds have all shown commendable detection capabilities. Notably, even dogs with complex histories, such as a mistreated pit bull terrier, proved their ability to contribute to COVID-19 detection efforts.

Integration of Scent Dogs

Despite the promising findings, integrating scent dogs into mainstream medical diagnoses presents challenges. Although they have successfully detected other medical conditions like diabetes and cancer, the broader acceptance of dogs as diagnostic tools remains a topic of discussion.

Scent dogs have found more acceptance in smaller countries like Finland and Colombia, where the urgency of the pandemic drove the exploration of rapid, cost-effective methods for detection without waiting for extensive testing infrastructure.

Dickey and Junqueira's comprehensive review advocates incorporating scent dogs into routine health screenings, particularly in public spaces.

"After conducting this comprehensive review, we believe that scent dogs deserve their place as a serious diagnostic methodology that could be particularly useful during future pandemics, potentially as part of rapid routine health screenings in public spaces," Dickey and Junqueira noted.

"Perhaps, most importantly, we argue that the impressive international quality and quantity of COVID scent dog research described in our paper for the first time, demonstrates that medical scent dogs are finally ready for a host of mainstream medical applications," they concluded.

The findings of the study were published in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine.