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France: Dogs to detect COVID-19 by smelling perspiration

(Worthy News) –
Scientists and veterinarians in France have partnered in a project which trains dogs to detect the new coronavirus through smelling human sweat, en24News reports. The stated aim of the ‘Cynocov’ project is to provide a “complimentary solution” to the pandemic crisis at a time when “a comprehensive, rapid and non-invasive screening offering is needed.”

Presented to the press on Friday, the Cynocov project was developed by Thierry Pistone, an infectiologist at the University Hospital Center (CHU) in Bordeaux, in partnership with 5th Ceva Santé Animale veterinary laboratory. The project is based on the Nosais COVID-19 method developed by Professor Dominique Grandjean of the Maisons-Alfort National Veterinary School.

“Dogs can detect 95% of positive COVID-19 cases on average,” Grandjean said in a statement. This method is currently being tested in Corsica, and 40 other countries are reportedly working along these lines.

The dogs undergo six to eight weeks of training and must demonstrate the ability to do the work in a clinical trial at a hospital before being deployed to the field. It is anticipated the dogs will be used primarily to preselect “suspicious” people for confirmatory tests, en24News said.

“When it is known that asymptomatic people will soon have to be detected in all types of spaces – schools, homes for the elderly or airports – this type of tool, which offers at least a strong suspicion criterion, will allow, in terms of acceptability and reactivity, to facilitate the process,” Denis Malvy, head of the infectious and tropical diseases service at CHU Bordeaux said in a statement.