Scientists are training dogs to sniff out Covid-19 at airports and other public places around the world. The dogs are doing a good job, too. Madeleine Brand, host of Press Play, interviews Maria Goodavage, journalist and author of Doctor Dogs: How Our Best Friends Are Becoming Our Best Medicine. Link.
Source: KCRW, November 17, 2020. Link. At a few airports in the UAE (United Arab Emirates), they have to test negative to get into the country, but then some will get this extra test of an underarm swab. Then that goes to a back room where dogs are there to sniff out samples. And reportedly they’re doing a really good job.
INSIGHTS: The written summary is a good short read, but the audio offers interesting details and examples of how the dogs are trained. The conversation even includes a mention of dogs detecting bovine viruses. (Plus, the training is non-discriminatory. All breeds are good at this.)