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‘CANINE SURVEILLANCE’

Can Labradors Sniff Out the Coronavirus? Scientists Are Investigating.

Researchers want to know if dogs can smell COVID-19 and screen airport passengers.

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Matt Cardy/Getty

By Blake Montgomery

Labrador retrievers are involved in two research projects to see if they can sniff out coronavirus infections, the National Post reports. University of Pennsylvania researchers are looking into whether Miss M., Poncho, and six other dogs could act as a “canine surveillance” team and detect a positive COVID-19 diagnosis by smell in the same way some canines can with malaria-specific cancers. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is working on a similar study and hopes to deploy six labs to airports in the United Kingdom. The leader of the London initiative predicted that dogs would be able to screen roughly 250 people per hour. 

Read it at National Post

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