Santiago de Chile (AFP)
Chilean police have started training dogs to locate Covid-19 patients by detecting the presence of the virus in their perspiration.
The dogs selected, three golden retrievers and a labrador aged 4 to 5, have so far been used to search for drugs, explosives or missing persons, according to the police.
This program was born from the collaboration of the Chilean national police, the Carabineros and specialists from the Catholic University of Chile. Similar initiatives have taken place recently in France and in Great Britain.
Dogs have 330 million olfactory sensors and an ability to detect odors 50 times better than humans.
"The virus does not smell, it is rather the infection which generates changes in the metabolism", which in turn translate into a particular variety of perspiration that "can spot the dog", explains Fernando Mardones , professor of veterinary epidemiology, at AFP.
According to him, it has been proven that dogs can detect diseases such as tuberculosis, parasitic infections and even some early stages of cancer.
They can also perceive small changes in skin temperature, which can help determine if a person is feverish. They are unlikely to be contaminated themselves according to the World Organization for Animal Health.
The dogs began their training a month ago and are working from sweat samples taken from hospital patients at the Catholic University clinic.
Experts hope they will be operational by August. They may be deployed in places of passage such as stations, airports or dispensaries.
Chile reported 1,836 new cases of covid-19 on Tuesday, the lowest number in two months.
In total, the country has recorded 319,493 cases of infection since March 3. More than 11,000 people have died from it, according to a report by the Ministry of Health which also counts the "probable" cases of coronavirus.
© 2020 AFP