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COVID-19
Covid-19 Detecting Dogs Animals and Coronavirus
Dogs can already detect low concentrations
of volatile organic compounds
associated with diseases
including ovarian cancer, bacterial
infections and nasal tumors. These
VOCs are found in blood, saliva and
urine samples.
Soon, detecting COVID-19 might
only be a snort away. In a recently
published University of Helsinki study,
Finnish researchers discovered that
dogs were capable of recognizing the
distinctive odor of a coronavirus infection
in urine samples. Soon, they hope
the pooches will be able to detect the
infection at airports, nursing homes
and other high-risk areas.
University of Pennsylvania’s School
of Veterinary Medicine announced a
pilot training program at the end of
April using eight scent detection dogs
to detect the differences between
samples from COVID-19 positive and
COVID-19 negative patients. “The potential
impact of these dogs and their
capacity to detect COVID-19 could be
substantial. This study will harness the
dog’s extraordinary ability to support
the nation’s COVID-19 surveillance
systems, with the goal of reducing
community spread,” said Cynthia Otto,
professor of Working Dog Sciences
and Sports Medicine and director of
Penn Vet’s Working Dog Center, in
the release.
https://thehill.com/changing-america/wellbeing/
prevention-cures/499974-research-
Coronaviruses are a large family of
viruses. Other animal species have their
own coronaviruses that cause a variety of
illnesses. The dog and cat coronaviruses
that are quite common do not cause illness
to humans. The current coronavirus, Covid
19, is still under a lot of investigation,
but it is suspected that it started with bats
in an open food market in China.
We have learned through research that
viruses can mutate. That is how we end up
new vaccine every year. A lot of viruses
mutate randomly and by accident and that
is how they multiply and spread.
Viruses that are similar to Covid-19
have been shown, in exceedingly rare
cases, to spread from humans to cats,
ferrets and pigs. The risk to our beloved
pets is low and it is unlikely that we could
transmit it to them. There is no current
evidence to show that an infected animal
is capable of transmitting disease back to
humans.
Are you wondering if the virus can survive
on the fur of your pet? Researchers
are still learning new information about the
virus every day. They are unsure about the
current virus, but viruses in the past have
not been found to survive for any length
of time on fur.
With the current virus the understanding
is that pets do not play a role in transmission
to humans. But always remember to
be safe and wash your hands, you never
can be to careful in these changing times.
Shari Camp, RVT
Greater Cincinnati Veterinary Specialists
and Emergency Services
For continually updated information about Coronavirus and pets, please visit
www.American Veterinary Medical Association AVMA.org
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