Manatee nonprofit BioScent K9 wants to know if dogs can detect the coronavirus
With their sense-of-smell super power, dogs have been called on to sniff out explosive charges, concealed narcotics, and diseases, such as diabetes or cancer.
Is it possible, asked Heather Junqueira, whether dogs might also be able to detect the scent of the coronavirus?
If such a feat were possible, it could help isolate outbreaks of COVID-19. Researchers have been bedeviled by the disease, which can be spread by asymptomatic carriers, while others fall ill and die.
Junqueira, founder of BioScent K9, a Myakka City not-for-profit, is set to begin researching and training dogs to detect COVID-19.
“The dogs can scent a crowd very quickly and could be the first line of screening, while tests are in short supply. They also could detect the virus on surfaces and could be very valuable in a business setting,” Junqueira said.
“We are trying to save lives. I believe that our dogs can help reduce the spread and impact of the COVID-19 virus,” she said.
Using beagles and basset hounds, and samples of inactive coronavirus, she hopes to learn whether the canines can detect tell-tale signs of the disease.
Dari Oglesby has known Junqueira for a decade and is intrigued by the coronavirus study.
“Anything that we can do to figure out who has the disease, to save lives, and to get our lives back to normal would be wonderful. It’s possible. I don’t know,” Oglesby said.
Susan Nielsen, certified dog trainer and member of the BioScent K9 board of directors, said if the study works out it could provide a new line of defense and a new sense of security about the coronavirus.
The first step in the research would be to see if the dogs can detect the virus. If so, the second step would be to see if they can distinguish between people who are positive for the disease, and those who are negative, Junqueira said.
That would be important in detecting a person in a crowd who is positive for COVID-19.
“We are at the very beginning phase. We are in the funding phase and are going to apply for grants in several different places,” she said.
Junqueira hopes to have the inactive virus samples by the end of this week.
She is also asking for donations to get the project off the ground.
The supplies, materials, and samples are costly, she said.
Donations can be sent to BioScent K9, 25424 83rd Ave. E., Myakka City, FL 34251, or made online at https://secure.givelively.org/donate/bioscent-k9/covid-19-research.
For more information, visit the Bioscent K9 Facebook page.
