Trained dogs may detect COVID more accurately than rapid tests, a new study reveal

On May 26, the last pet dog leaves a "makeshift shelter for animals" in Shanghai, China. All of the pets were released from the temporary shelter on Thursday. The makeshift shelter was set up to house pets whose owners had COVID-19. Image: Liu Xingzhe, Vcg via Getty Images

Trained dogs may be better at detecting COVID patients than rapid tests, according to a French study published on Wednesday.

According to the study, which was published in the medical journal Plos One, specially trained dogs sniffing sweat samples were able to detect COVID in nearly all cases, whereas rapid nasal tests only picked up on about 84 % of cases.

When it came to accurately identifying negative cases, however, rapid tests won: Dogs correctly identified approximately 90% of negative cases, whereas rapid tests correctly identified nearly all.

The authors wrote that two of the false-positive cases identified by dogs had other coronaviruses: NL63 and OC43, both of which cause respiratory infections.

When compared to rapid testing, the first-of-its-kind study revealed "excellent" performance of trained canines. Dogs demonstrated "no real difference in sensitivity," or a test's ability to correctly identify patients with a disease. Canines are less invasive than other forms of COVID testing, according to the authors, and they can also complete testing faster than a lab.

According to the authors, specially trained dogs may be especially useful in detecting COVID among special-needs patients, such as those with Alzheimer's, who find it difficult to endure nasal-swab testing, as well as in mass settings such as airports, public events, and schools.

Author: Erin Prater