There has been a report that Nigeria may adopt the pilot study on the use of dogs to diagnose the coronavirus pandemic affecting many countries.
The pilot training programme which uses scent detection by dogs to separate between samples of positive and negative patients of COVID-19 would have 36 dogs as pioneer participants. The novel research is an initiative of a firm – ScentLogix and the University of Security, Ondo State.
The trainee-dogs will receive ScentLogic samples of COVID-19 in the next few weeks as a training aid. This is because COVID-19 has a unique odor that could easily be detected by dogs.
According to the team leader in Nigeria, Prof. David Adebimpe, the scent detection dogs can detect a low concentration of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) accurately as they are present in human blood, saliva, urine or breath.
According to the Vice President of the firm in Africa and Asia, Abayomi Odunowo who broke the news to journalists in Abeokuta, the Ogun State Capital, yesterday, the preliminary screening of live humans by trained dogs in Nigeria could begin as early as July.
He added that the trained dogs to detect the pandemic could screen 750 people in one hour.
An expert from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Adetona Sikiru, said there was a possibility of detecting COVID-19 using dogs.
He, however, noted that the trains conducted in the United States and the United Kingdom were inconclusive.
A specialist team of researchers was awarded by the UK Government of about €500,000 to find out if special trained bio-detection dogs could be used as a new rapid testing measure for COVID-19.
The programme was championed by the government, the Medical Detection Dogs charity, and universities like London’s School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
If the trial proves potent, the first set of dogs are likely to be deployed to key points of entry into the UK within six months to assist with the rapid screening of people traveling into the country.
