Covid Sniffing Dogs

[donaldsc]

According to this NY Times article, dogs can be trained to determine if a person has Covid and they are better than the results from a P.C.R test - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/12/science/covid-sniffing-dogs.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Science.  I read the paper that the article references (https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-021-02232-9)  and there seems to be something to it.  Can you imagine that instead of doing Covid tests on a ship, they just have a Covid sniffing dog on board.  Intriguing idea.  It has been shown that dogs can detect other diseases in people (https://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/news/research-medical-benefits/the-science-of-sniffs-disease-smelling-dogs/) so  why not covid?  

 

DON

[davecttr]

Also in reports over here a COVID virus sensor is being developed that can 'sniff out' viral particles from the air.

Covid detector gadget can sniff out virus in crowded room in 15 minutes | News | The Sunday Times (thetimes.co.uk)

[Honolulu Blue]

I approve of this idea.  It's been around for almost a year and implemented here and there in several different places.  I wish it were implemented more widely, but finding suitable dogs to train and trainers to train them must be a problem.

[CruiserBruce]

They have been experimenting with the dog idea for some time. If the results are good, next up is meeting demand for trained dogs and handlers. Not sure how fast they can meet the demand.

[CruiserBruce]

7 hours ago, donaldsc said:

According to this NY Times article, dogs can be trained to determine if a person has Covid and they are better than the results from a P.C.R test - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/12/science/covid-sniffing-dogs.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Science.  I read the paper that the article references (https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-021-02232-9)  and there seems to be something to it.  Can you imagine that instead of doing Covid tests on a ship, they just have a Covid sniffing dog on board.  Intriguing idea.  It has been shown that dogs can detect other diseases in people (https://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/news/research-medical-benefits/the-science-of-sniffs-disease-smelling-dogs/) so  why not covid?  

 

DON

Story is behind paywall.

[c-boy]

I'm allergic to dogs

[JRG]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

They have been experimenting with the dog idea for some time. If the results are good, next up is meeting demand for trained dogs and handlers. Not sure how fast they can meet the demand.

 

Yes,  it is proven to work.   The problem is olfactory fatigue.   The dogs get tired after smelling body after body and it loses effectivity so they can only sniff for so long.

 

So you would need alot of dogs to sniff out the entire lot of cruise passengers.

 

 

 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, JRG said:

 

Yes,  it is proven to work.   The problem is olfactory fatigue.   The dogs get tired after smelling body after body and it loses effectivity so they can only sniff for so long.

 

So you would need alot of dogs to sniff out the entire lot of cruise passengers.

 

 

 

Or drastically reduced capacity.

[donaldsc]

2 hours ago, JRG said:

 

Yes,  it is proven to work.   The problem is olfactory fatigue.   The dogs get tired after smelling body after body and it loses effectivity so they can only sniff for so long.

 

So you would need alot of dogs to sniff out the entire lot of cruise passengers.

 

 

 

 

Another problem is that some of the passengers would think that the dogs are cute and want to pet them and play w them.  When a working dog is working, they are not pets and you don't pet them or play w them.  That might be hard for the "they are so cute" passengers to understand.

 

DON

[CruiserBruce]

All dog operations have limits in terms of endurance. Most bomb and explosives sniffers can work for a max of 45 minutes before mandatory breaks.

[DirtyDawg]

I'm not concerned about cruise lines using Covid sniffing dogs. The problem will be all the new Covid sniffing emotional support dogs that people will be bring with them.

 

"Hi, nice to meet you fellow cruiser, but  before I let you within 6 feet of me, my emotional support dog will be sniffing you, OK?"  🐕‍🦺

 

😄

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by DirtyDawg

[sfaaa]

I hope those sniffing dogs will be vaccinated for COVID.

[zekekelso]

If they ever need dogs to sniff out people smuggling Cheetos onto ships, I’ve got one that would be awesome. 

[lenquixote66]

I do not believe that dogs can smell people with Covid.Was the story in the April 1 edition ?

[frantic36]

7 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I do not believe that dogs can smell people with Covid.Was the story in the April 1 edition ?

 

Here you go and published on 24 May. There are a few articles around including The New York Times.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-57200863

[lenquixote66]

4 minutes ago, frantic36 said:

 

Here you go and published on 24 May. There are a few articles around including The New York Times.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-57200863

I do not believe everything that is printed in the New York Times.

 

[frantic36]

Just now, lenquixote66 said:

I do not believe everything that is printed in the New York Times.

 

 

The article I posted was from the BBC...do you believe them? How about National Geographic or Science Daily, many articles published.

[lenquixote66]

Just now, frantic36 said:

 

The article I posted was from the BBC...do you believe them? How about National Geographic or Science Daily, many articles published.

Who will train the dogs ? Are there humans who can smell Covid ?Not very likely .Just think this over .

[frantic36]

Just now, lenquixote66 said:

Who will train the dogs ? Are there humans who can smell Covid ?Not very likely .Just think this over .

 Why do humans have to smell Covid in order for the dogs to be trained? Humans can't smell bombs either and yet dogs can be trained to smell them. Some dogs can also detect the onset of a person going into a seizure which humans can't do. Your premise is flawed.

[lenquixote66]

13 minutes ago, frantic36 said:

 Why do humans have to smell Covid in order for the dogs to be trained? Humans can't smell bombs either and yet dogs can be trained to smell them. Some dogs can also detect the onset of a person going into a seizure which humans can't do. Your premise is flawed.

I can see dogs being able to smell bombs or drugs but does Covid have a smell ?

[frantic36]

3 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I can see dogs being able to smell bombs or drugs but does Covid have a smell ?

 

Maybe it is like service dogs who smell people at risk of going into a Diabetic coma, there is an alteration in the smell of the body chemistry which alerts them. Tracker dogs can differentiate the smell of an individual they are tracking. All very complex for me but I find it fascinating what can be accomplished.

[CruiserBruce]

43 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I do not believe that dogs can smell people with Covid.Was the story in the April 1 edition ?

There are already well documented and researched projects with dogs smelling diabetic issues, cancer issues, detecting imminent seizures, and a few other things. Science has been able to document smells not noticed by humans, but that can be smelled by animals, as their sense of smell is, literally, as much as 200X human sense of smell.

 

Science is a wonderful thing.

[lenquixote66]

11 minutes ago, frantic36 said:

 

Maybe it is like service dogs who smell people at risk of going into a Diabetic coma, there is an alteration in the smell of the body chemistry which alerts them. Tracker dogs can differentiate the smell of an individual they are tracking. All very complex for me but I find it fascinating what can be accomplished.

Have you ever been in the presence of a person who had Covid ? I have and there is definitely no way to determine the disease by smell.

[lenquixote66]

12 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

There are already well documented and researched projects with dogs smelling diabetic issues, cancer issues, detecting imminent seizures, and a few other things. Science has been able to document smells not noticed by humans, but that can be smelled by animals, as their sense of smell is, literally, as much as 200X human sense of smell.

 

Science is a wonderful thing.

Back to my previous question .Who trains the dogs ? 

[frantic36]

4 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

Back to my previous question .Who trains the dogs ? 

I give up.