Vancouver-area health officials train dog team to sniff out COVID-19
A health authority with a history of using dogs to help detect medical conditions has found a way to use its canine scent detection team to sniff out COVID-19.
Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) has trained its team, called Canines for Care, to signal the scent of the disease.
The B.C. health authority said it was "no small feat" to train a team of dogs already able to detect the bacteria Clostridium difficile, also known as C. difficile, to notice a relatively new type of infection.
“We’re happy to say they have a sensitivity of 100 per cent…and that’s amazing,” said VCH medical microbiologist Dr. Marthe Charles, noting that means the dogs never miss a positive sample.
“They’re super brilliant, they’re driven, and they are accurate,” Charles added.
The process took the experienced team about six months to figure out.
Even finding the right dogs – two Labrador retrievers and one English springer spaniel – required a global approach.
VCH said the team, which is partly funded by Health Canada's restart program, worked with others around the world to find dogs with the right combination of genetics and potential.
"Every dog can sniff, but not every dog can work," canine scent detection specialist Teresa Zurberg said.
And once the dogs, named Micro, Yoki and Finn, were selected, the team had to figure out how to get access to samples, and train the canines in a way that was safe for the pups and their handlers.
Charles said the team collected saliva, breath and sweat samples from consenting patients.
Those samples were prepared in a way that removed the risk of transmission of the active virus.
Zurberg demonstrated for CTV News how the spaniel, Finn, zeroed in, in a room full of a dozen small “scent stands” which look like small cone-shaped speakers, on the stand containing the positive COVID-19 sample.
When she took the dog out of the room, and changed the position of the positive sample, Finn still found it within a matter of a few seconds.
“Odor to the dog is like colour is to us,” Zurberg said. “Where we can see different colours and shades and intensities, that’s how scent works for these guys.”
Each time Finn found the positive sample, Zurberg shouted “Good boy!” and released a treat from a small dispensing machine.
“This whole smelling thing, the sniffing thing, whether it’s a bomb dog, a drug dog, or a covid dog, it’s all a game,” she said.
In August, Micro, Yoki and Finn all passed what VCH describes as a "rigorous validation process" from a third party.
(Vancouver Coastal Health)
According to VCH, the dog team is part of its strategy to "tackle COVID-19 prevention from every possible angle."
“I think it’s really exciting to see that we can add another tool to the toolbox,” said Charles.
The health authority was the first in the world to operationalize its C. difficile detecting dog program, and now plans to develop a dog training program to provide ongoing public health support.
Possible future applications of teams like the one at VCH include detection of COVID-19 at airports and on cruise ships.
(Vancouver Coastal Health)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
CFIA monitoring for avian flu in Canadian dairy cattle after U.S. discoveries
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is encouraging veterinarians to keep an eye out for signs of avian influenza in dairy cattle following recent discoveries of cases of the disease in U.S. cow herds.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Senators reject field trip to African Lion Safari amid elephant bill study
The Senate legal affairs committee has rejected a motion calling for members to take a $50,000 field trip to the African Lion Safari in southern Ontario to see the zoo's elephant exhibit.
DEVELOPING G7 warns of new sanctions against Iran as world reacts to apparent Israeli drone attack
Group of Seven foreign ministers warned of new sanctions against Iran on Friday for its drone and missile attack on Israel, and urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
Vancouver firefighter in rehab at home after losing leg to flesh-eating infection overseas
A family trip took a frightening turn for Christopher Won when he was diagnosed with flesh-eating disease while in Hong Kong and now, after weeks of treatment overseas, the Vancouver firefighter is back home recovering.
WATCH Video shows dramatic police takedown of carjacking suspects chased through parking lot north of Toronto
Police have released video footage of a dramatic takedown of a group of teens wanted in connection with an attempted carjacking in Markham earlier this month.
WHO likely to issue wider alert on contaminated cough syrup
The World Health Organization is likely to issue a wider warning about contaminated Johnson and Johnson-made children's cough syrup found in Nigeria last week, it said in an email.