As people start to travel again, Miami Airport has found a novel way to test for COVID-19: dogs sniffing masks.
“In Miami, we had already talked about it a few months ago, about this ability that some dogs would have to detect COVID by smell,” explains Diane Lamarre, pharmacist.
A few dogs, including Cobra and One Betta, have been trained for the task. As the employees pass through security, they hand over their masks and the dog sniffs them.
“It works, they identified 1093 positive patients in the space of eight days at the Miami airport,” said Ms. Lamarre. “The way they’ve been trained is that when they get to a mask that gives off that scent, the dog sits down in front of the person. They validated, it is 99% true, they are reliable in their screening for COVID. “
The program is so successful that it has been extended by a month, according to Web MD.
If dogs continue to detect COVID-19 successfully, they and other trained canines could travel to other airports or even schools.
www.journaldemontreal.com