The German army is training its sniffer dogs to detect coronavirus in humans, the Hamburg-based news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Monday.
DOGS ARE BEING TRAINED IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES
In a joint project of the German army and the Foundation of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover, sniffer dogs based at the military’s K9 Dog Training Center in the western German town of Ulmen are being trained to detect coronavirus infections in human saliva.
10 dogs — shepherds, spaniels, and retrievers – have been enrolled for the scientific study.
The basis for the corona project was that sniffer dogs can not only detect explosives or drugs from the molecular composition of an odor but also smell various types of cancer and the imminent hypoglycemia of diabetics.
German researchers involved in the study are upbeat and expect a positive outcome of the project.
There is, however, a risk of dogs getting infected. In rare cases, pets can also contract the virus, as two new studies show that the virus can also be transmitted from humans to animals. Nevertheless, dogs are being trained in other countries such as the USA, Finland, and the UK as well to detect the coronavirus.