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US: Dogs are being trained to 'sniff out' COVID-19 cases

US: Dogs are being trained to 'sniff out' COVID-19 cases

Labrador retrievers

Eight Labrador retrievers are being trained at the University of Pennsylvania in the US to ''sniff out'' COVID-19cases.

According to experts, if this initiative succeeds, then it will ''revolutionize''screening for the deadly illness and the response towards it.

The reason behind particularly choosing this breed wastheir ''powerful noses'' as per the university.

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The dogs are the first trainees in a research project of the University of Pennsylvania to determine whether canines can detect an odour associated with the coronavirus.

In a statement issued by the University, the dogswill be used as ''canine surveillance''at airports, businesses and hospitals to prevent the pathogen from spreading.

A similar effort is underway in United Kingdom at theLondon School of Hygiene andTropical Medicine, where researchers previously demonstrated that dogs could identify malaria infections in humans.

James Logan, head of the school’s disease control department, called canines a ''new diagnostic tool''that ''could revolutionize our response to coronavirus.''

Research has proved that viruses have specific odours, said Cynthia M. Otto, director of the Working Dog Center at Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine.

Dogs are already used tosniff outmalaria, cancers and even abacterium ravaging Florida’s citrus groves.