Is France about to use the sniffer-dog-technique to detect Covid-19 positive cases too? Already instated in several countries such as Chile, Belgium, Lebanon and even the United Arab Emirates, the technique of the Coronavirus sniffer dogs is effective. "We now have the proof it works in real life thanks to highly promising results achieved by research teams and the AP-HP" Health Minister Olivier Véran said this early June. According to the first experimentations carried out, the technique of the Covid-19 sniffer dog could be as precise as a PCR test, with 97% of success!
The canine sense of smell is 40 times more developed than humans’, professor Dominique Grandjean told Le Figaro, as he managed this innovative project called Nosaïs-Covid-19. In concrete words, dogs are trained for weeks to detect the smell of Covid-19. With a team of 4 people, head of Alfort veterinary school Medicine, Training and Sport Unit Director Grandjean has started to work on this technique back to this past May. “The first week, samples from several positive cases have been put in a cone so that [the dogs] can smell it. The second week, neutral smells have been included, then, the third week, the smells of negative cases have been added. This phase lasts two weeks. The last week, they are given lines with no positive cases so that they can learn to be rewarded even though they find nothing” the professor explained in Le Figaro.
Thanks to these conclusive tests, Covid-19 sniffer dogs could be deployed to reinforce border controls, as well as to make life easier for people the most at risk. As our peers from Ouest-France explain, dogs' noses might be soon used in nursing homes. According to the Handi'Chiens association - that oined the Nosaïs-Covid-19 project - this technique of the Coronavirus sniffer dogs could enable to make family visits easier in nursing homes. For the record, non-vaccinees must take a RT-PCR test 72 hours prior to their visit in nursing home, or take an antigenic test in pharmacy the day of the visit.
