Identifying SARS-COV-2 infected patients through canine olfactive detection on axillary sweat samples; study of observed sensitivities and specificities within a group of trained dogs

PLoS One. 2022 Feb 14;17(2):e0262631. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262631. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

There is an increasing need for rapid, reliable, non-invasive, and inexpensive mass testing methods as the global COVID-19 pandemic continues. Detection dogs could be a possible solution to identify individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2. Previous studies have shown that dogs can detect SARS-CoV-2 on sweat samples. This study aims to establish the dogs' sensitivity (true positive rate) which measures the proportion of people with COVID-19 that are correctly identified, and specificity (true negative rate) which measures the proportion of people without COVID-19 that are correctly identified. Seven search and rescue dogs were tested using a total of 218 axillary sweat samples (62 positive and 156 negative) in olfaction cones following a randomised and double-blind protocol. Sensitivity ranged from 87% to 94%, and specificity ranged from 78% to 92%, with four dogs over 90%. These results were used to calculate the positive predictive value and negative predictive value for each dog for different infection probabilities (how likely it is for an individual to be SARS-CoV-2 positive), ranging from 10-50%. These results were compared with a reference diagnostic tool which has 95% specificity and sensitivity. Negative predictive values for six dogs ranged from ≥98% at 10% infection probability to ≥88% at 50% infection probability compared with the reference tool which ranged from 99% to 95%. Positive predictive values ranged from ≥40% at 10% infection probability to ≥80% at 50% infection probability compared with the reference tool which ranged from 68% to 95%. This study confirms previous results, suggesting that dogs could play an important role in mass-testing situations. Future challenges include optimal training methods and standardisation for large numbers of detection dogs and infrastructure supporting their deployment.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • COVID-19 / diagnosis*
  • COVID-19 / virology*
  • Dogs
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • SARS-CoV-2 / physiology*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Smell / physiology*
  • Sweat / virology*

Grants and funding

Dominique Grandjean received funding in the form of a grant from the World Health Organization, Grant No: 202605592. This research has been supported by German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) COVID-19 research and development funding to World Health Organization. The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this publication and they do not necessarily represent the views, decisions or policies of WHO. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.