Coronavirus / Covid Detecting Dogs Coming Into Use - DXB 1st
Aug 9, 2020, 11:21 am
#1
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Coronavirus / Covid Detecting Dogs Coming Into Use - DXB 1st
Coronavirus / Covid-19 detection dogs are reported to be 92% accurate, which exceeds the accuracy rate for PCR tests used in the USA and other nations. They have been in use at Dubai International Airport (DXB) for about a week, and are expected to be put into service at other airports as well. This could be a huge boon for travelers - no invasive swabs, no wait for test processing, and apparently high accuracy. A country could add a small arrivals processing fee, in lieu of charging $100 or more for arriving passengers.
https://www.sfgate.com/travel/articl...i-15454175.php
In the United Arab Emirates, all arriving passengers must submit to COVID-19 testing prior to their trips and show negative results to be admitted into the country.
But this week, Dubai International Airport (DXB) started using police dogs for on-airport rapid COVID-19 testing, which reportedly can produce results in minutes with 92 percent accuracy.
But this week, Dubai International Airport (DXB) started using police dogs for on-airport rapid COVID-19 testing, which reportedly can produce results in minutes with 92 percent accuracy.
Last edited by JDiver; Aug 9, 2020 at 11:30 am
Aug 9, 2020, 12:39 pm
#2
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The papers from two teams that works on this method are:
https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.c...79-020-05281-3
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...06.03.132134v1
Those studies are early (one of them is from 2 weeks ago) and have a big limit: the positive patient knew they were positive as they were hospitalised for COVID 19. They of course would have a certain level of stress and it is possible the dogs pick up on the stress rather than the infection. The method is interesting and first results promising but nothing more and certainly not proven effective to be put in production at an airport.
It seems Dubai is doing more for PR than real science designed to actually help. The EK COVID 19 test was proven completely ineffective at screening passenger infected. And now the airport wants to use an unproven method.
https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.c...79-020-05281-3
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...06.03.132134v1
Those studies are early (one of them is from 2 weeks ago) and have a big limit: the positive patient knew they were positive as they were hospitalised for COVID 19. They of course would have a certain level of stress and it is possible the dogs pick up on the stress rather than the infection. The method is interesting and first results promising but nothing more and certainly not proven effective to be put in production at an airport.
It seems Dubai is doing more for PR than real science designed to actually help. The EK COVID 19 test was proven completely ineffective at screening passenger infected. And now the airport wants to use an unproven method.
Aug 10, 2020, 5:59 am
#3
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Does seem like some PR using an unproven method but it would be great if they could get to the point where it worked. I have a lot more hope for quick and accurate testing being developed soon than I do a vaccine or highly effective treatment. And I believe that air travel could pick up again (not back to before times levels, but higher than it is now) once said quick and accurate testing is available since you could know before you got on a plane that no one onboard is contagious and that would be a huge deal both for the flight itself and your ability to be let in to the destination country once you land.
Aug 10, 2020, 6:31 am
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Interesting, but....
What if these dogs get COVID-19 themselves? It hasn't actually been established that dogs can't get it, right?
And has it been proven that a dog can't actually transmit COVID-19 to humans?
What if these dogs get COVID-19 themselves? It hasn't actually been established that dogs can't get it, right?
And has it been proven that a dog can't actually transmit COVID-19 to humans?
Aug 10, 2020, 6:34 am
#5
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If they can also sniff drugs and explosives while they're at it I foresee some great opportunities for vertical integration. And on weekends, if the season is right, you can also go truffle hunting.
Aug 10, 2020, 9:20 am
#6
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Is the plan to use dogs to decide who should be tested or will people be offloaded/quarantined/denied entry because the dog said so? What if you're just anxious around dogs or don't like dogs and they don't like you?
When dogs are used to find drugs etc., the dog just indicates what should be examined by humans, with arrests and prosecution requiring that illegal substances actually be found so that there is physical evidence.
When dogs are used to find drugs etc., the dog just indicates what should be examined by humans, with arrests and prosecution requiring that illegal substances actually be found so that there is physical evidence.
Aug 10, 2020, 9:52 am
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Hence my posting of the studies and the caution attached: your questions have no answers at the moment.
Aug 10, 2020, 11:24 am
#8
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Many of the questions are indeed answered, if anyone simply opens the link that @JDiver provided and reads the story. 
Along with the link that he provided, a simple Google search will reveal many other similar stories (some positive, some not so much). Here's another good example:
https://theconversation.com/these-dogs-are-trained-to-sniff-out-the-coronavirus-most-have-a-100-success-rate-143756
And here's a, "not so good," story:
https://slate.com/technology/2020/08...fing-dogs.html
(bolding mine, more info in the linked story)
Along with the link that he provided, a simple Google search will reveal many other similar stories (some positive, some not so much). Here's another good example:
https://theconversation.com/these-dogs-are-trained-to-sniff-out-the-coronavirus-most-have-a-100-success-rate-143756
What does a pandemic smell like? If dogs could talk, they might be able to tell us.
We’re part of an international research team, led by Dominique Grandjean at France’s National Veterinary School of Alfort, that has been training detector dogs to sniff out traces of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) since March.
These detector dogs are trained using sweat samples from people infected with COVID-19. When introduced to a line of sweat samples, most dogs can detect a positive one from a line of negative ones with 100% accuracy.
Across the globe, coronavirus detector dogs are being trained in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Belgium.
In the UAE, detector dogs – stationed at various airports – have already started helping efforts to control COVID-19’s spread. This is something we hope will soon be available in Australia too.
We’re part of an international research team, led by Dominique Grandjean at France’s National Veterinary School of Alfort, that has been training detector dogs to sniff out traces of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) since March.
These detector dogs are trained using sweat samples from people infected with COVID-19. When introduced to a line of sweat samples, most dogs can detect a positive one from a line of negative ones with 100% accuracy.
Across the globe, coronavirus detector dogs are being trained in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Belgium.
In the UAE, detector dogs – stationed at various airports – have already started helping efforts to control COVID-19’s spread. This is something we hope will soon be available in Australia too.
And here's a, "not so good," story:
https://slate.com/technology/2020/08...fing-dogs.html
With dogs, the nose knows. Whether it’s random patches of grass, what’s cooking on the stove, dead things, or people’s crotches, dogs want a whiff. While humans have just 6 million olfactory receptors, dogs have about 300 million, giving them a sense of smell scientists estimate is between 10 to a 100,000 times more sensitive than ours. (That is, admittedly, a big range.) Their excellent noses can sniff out things we humans never could, which is why you see bomb and drug dogs working with law enforcement. But dogs aren’t just cops; they can also be trained to sniff out illnesses, like COVID-19.
Over the past several months, several teams of researchers have been training dogs on what COVID-19 smells like, in hopes they can detect it in humans. In some places, like the Dubai airport, dogs are already being deployed to sniff samples from potentially ill travelers. COVID-sniffing dogs might seem like the future, but there are real logistical challenges we’ll need to figure out first.
Over the past several months, several teams of researchers have been training dogs on what COVID-19 smells like, in hopes they can detect it in humans. In some places, like the Dubai airport, dogs are already being deployed to sniff samples from potentially ill travelers. COVID-sniffing dogs might seem like the future, but there are real logistical challenges we’ll need to figure out first.
Aug 10, 2020, 1:45 pm
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As the photo suggests, the dogs would be sniffing samples from passengers, not the passengers themselves. It sounds like they could prove more reliable than the tests, but it's early days.