Four dogs of the Chilean Police began to be trained to become “biodetector” agents if their powerful sense of smell manages to identify coronavirus carriers early through sweat.
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Through an alliance between the Chilean Police and the Catholic University of Chile, the program was raised to take advantage of the great olfactory capacity of dogs, following experiences already developed in France, where attempts were made to detect cases through sweat, he explained to AFP, Julio Santelices, director of the Carabineros Specialties School.
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“The virus does not have an odor, but it is the infection that generates metabolic changes in the individual in different organs and in that response of the organism’s physiology compounds are generated that are released by the organism associated with sulfates that are basically what that it would detect the dog, “Fernando Mardones, a professor of veterinary epidemiology at the Catholic University, told AFP.
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“The important thing about this scientific study is that it allows dogs to become biodetectors and detect this type of disease early,” said Santelices.
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The dogs, whose possibility of contagion is low according to the World Organization for Animal Health, began their training a month ago and it is expected that in August they will begin their task accompanied by an officer to carry out the detection in places such as bus stations, airports or health checkpoints.
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