Australia tests using dogs to detect passengers with Covid-19

South Australia is using six sniffer dogs in a trial at Adelaide Airport to detect coronavirus cases early.Covid-19, while reducing the risk of disease transmission to the community.

Speaking to local media about the event, South Australian Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said the tests were crucial to Australia's efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. If proven effective, they could be an important screening tool to protect Australia from the potential spread of the pandemic.

According to Ms. Andrews, if the trial is successful, these dogs could be deployed to crowded places such as airports and stadiums to screen large numbers of people quickly at the same time and help reduce the risk of spreading the virus at major events.

Testing using dogs to detect Covid-19 cases has been conducted in a number of countries around the world in recent times, including in the UK, France, Finland, Brazil and Chile... Many scientists believe that dogs can detect people with Covid-19 with almost absolute accuracy.

According to Dr. Anne-Lise Chaber, a lecturer at the School of Veterinary and Animal Sciences in South Australia, people with Covid-19 have unusual sweat odors, and this is the basis for dogs to detect cases of virus infection. Ms. Chaber also said that dogs can detect positive cases of SARS-CoV-2 with an accuracy rate of between 96 and 98%.

The Phase 3 trial is being jointly conducted by the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Border Force, the South Australian government, the University of Adelaide and several other agencies. A previous trial using sniffer dogs to help detect SARS-CoV-2 cases was conducted at Sydney Airport's international terminal in March this year.

The trial results are expected to be published later this year, after which participants will provide their views on the effectiveness of the program in meeting Australia's biosecurity objectives and whether further similar trials are needed./.