Preliminary accuracy of COVID-19 odor detection by canines and HS-SPME-GC-MS using exhaled breath samples

Julian Mendel; Kelvin Frank; Lourdes Edlin; Kelley Hall; Denise Webb; John Mills; Howard K Holness; Kenneth G Furton; DeEtta Mills

doi:10.1016/j.fsisyn.2021.100155

Preliminary accuracy of COVID-19 odor detection by canines and HS-SPME-GC-MS using exhaled breath samples

Forensic Sci Int Synerg. 2021:3:100155. doi: 10.1016/j.fsisyn.2021.100155. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Authors

Julian Mendel^{1

2

3}, Kelvin Frank^{2

3}, Lourdes Edlin⁴, Kelley Hall⁴, Denise Webb⁴, John Mills⁴, Howard K Holness^{2

3}, Kenneth G Furton^{2

3}, DeEtta Mills^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, OE 167, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
² Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida International University, CP 302, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
³ International Forensic Research Institute, Florida International University, OE 116, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
⁴ Innovative Detection Concepts, 22290 SW 266th St, Homestead, FL, 33031, USA.

Abstract

The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, since its initial outbreak in Wuhan, China has led to a worldwide pandemic and has shut down nations. As with any outbreak, there is a general strategy of detection, containment, treatment and/or cure. The authors would argue that rapid and efficient detection is critical and required to successful management of a disease. The current study explores and successfully demonstrates the use of canines to detect COVID-19 disease in exhaled breath. The intended use was to detect the odor of COVID-19 on contaminated surfaces inferring recent deposition of infectious material from a COVID-19 positive individual. Using masks obtained from hospitalized patients that tested positive for COVID-19 disease, four canines were trained and evaluated for their ability to detect the disease. All four canines obtained an accuracy >90% and positive predictive values ranging from ~73 to 93% after just one month of training.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Scent discriminating canines; Volatile organic compounds.