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COVID Testing Gone to the Dogs

altAn April 14, 2021 PLOS 1 study, Cynthia Otto et al., 2021, suggests that specially trained dogs can sniff out COVID-19 samples with 96% accuracy.

The study, “Discrimination of SARS-CoV-2 infected patient samples by detection dogs: A proof of concept study,” comes out of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine Working Dog Center. Detection dogs were used to determine if SARS-CoV-2 positive urine and saliva patient samples had a unique “odor signature,” the volatile organic compound signature (VOC) of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nine dogs were trained. The results of the study could lead to development of odor-based screening by electronic, chemical, or biological sensing methods.

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