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    'Any breed could do it': dogs might be a Covid tester's best friend

    Researchers around the world are training canines to sniff out the virus – could they be deployed for mass testing?Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverage
    by Nicola Davis Science correspondent Sep 25, 2020 3 minutes
    Kössi, a coronavirus sniffer dog, at Helsinki airport in Vantaa, Finland. Photograph: Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva/AFP/Getty Images

    It is simple and pain-free, could be used to test for coronavirus in care homes, airports and schools, and might just be more realistic than the UK government’s £100bn “Operation Moonshoot” mass screening plan. Its name? Fido.

    Around the world – from the UK to Finland, Spain, Brazil, Lebanon and Australia – teams of researchers are training dogs to sniff out Covid-19. And some say the idea of training hundreds of thousands of canine noses to check for coronavirus is not as far-fetched as it may sound.

    How do dogs do it? At Finland’s in a state-funded pilot scheme, passengers dab their skin with a wipe, which is placed in a beaker next to others containing control scents. If the dog detects the virus – shown by yelping, pawing, or lying down – the passenger takes a free swab test to verify its verdict.

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