Khimki (Russia) (AFP)
Near Moscow, "jackal dogs", a breed created by a scientist in Soviet times, are training to detect Covid-19 patients at airports, as the epidemic rebounds strongly in Russia.
In the laboratory of the Khimki dog training center, north-west of the capital, a little gray dog sniffs a dozen jars with urine samples.
Then the animal points to one of them and receives a small piece of meat as a reward.
To learn to recognize the virus, dogs exercise with urine because "it is the purest substance, without foreign cosmetic or perfume odors", explains Elena Bataïeva, director of the dog training center of the Russian airline Aeroflot.
According to the official, the virus itself has no odor, but the urine of patients smells differently.
However, there is no risk of contamination for humans or dogs during these exercises.
"Dog handlers do not work with the virus. The urine does not contain it. This has been verified and confirmed" by Russian researchers from the Vektor center in Siberia, which is developing one of the Russian anti-covid vaccines, underlines Ms. Batayeva, during a press presentation on Friday.
Aeroflot CEO Vitali Saveliev recently told him that these dogs could also detect coronavirus patients by sniffing an airplane passenger's mask or a sample of his saliva.
This project to strengthen health security at airports comes as Russia broke its record for daily coronavirus contamination.
Friday, 12,126 new cases were identified, a toll exceeding the peak of May, when the country observed a strict containment which is however not on the agenda currently.
Since the start of the epidemic, the country has officially recorded 1,272,238 cases, including 22,257 fatalities, and remains fourth in the world in the number of contaminations.
- A recreated race -
The Aeroflot dog training center has a total of 69 "chalaika", a breed obtained during the USSR by crossing between dogs and jackals, but which was only officially registered in Russia two years ago.
These dogs with a particularly sensitive sense of smell have been patrolling Moscow airports in recent years to detect explosives.
On a small lot surrounded by a metal enclosure with barbed wire, a red-haired dog, Iara, turns anxiously around a car and very quickly spots a metal box imitating the smell of explosives, hidden under the vehicle.
"These dogs learn quickly and are able to pick up an odor at a distance of 1.5 meters," says Ms. Bataïeva.
Originally, the "chalaïkas" were designed in 1977 by the biologist Klim Soulimov.
"It was at a time of the USSR when the problem of drug trafficking appeared. The dogs usually used by the police (laïkas - note) had difficulty working in the hot climates" of the Soviet republics of Asia Central, says Ms. Bataïeva.
The scientist Soulimov then decided to cross the laika - who traditionally guards the reindeer in the north of the country - with the jackal, living in the southern regions.
After the fall of the USSR, the Chalaïkas population was practically lost, but Aeroflot dog handlers decided to revive the breed, making a new crossbreed of dogs with a jackal.
The jackal "father" who gave life to several generations of "chalaïka" still lives in the Khimki training center.
The first results of this experiment to detect the virus should be known in early December.
© 2020 AFP