Last Updated on February 4, 2021, 7:31 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Basseterre: Medical Chief of Staff of the JNF General Hospital in St. Kitts and Nevis Kitts, Dr Cameron Wilkinson said that dogs can help detect people with respiratory diseases but that they cannot detect someone who is positive with the COVID-19 virus.
In his presentation, Dr Wilkinson explained this during the Prime Minister’s virtual forum series ‘Leadership Matters’ on 2 February 2021.
“If someone has an airway infection, they produce secretions, and animals can be trained to sniff out these secretions,” he said.
‘A study was done in which they found eight dogs to have people who were positive for COVID and respiratory diseases to see if they could identify the secretions, and they found that they could identify the people infected with respiratory symptoms with a “very high levels of sensitivity and specificity and based on that they were able to train dogs to sniff out these secretions,” said Dr. Wilkinson.
“The dogs cannot detect anyone who carries the virus that is asymptomatic, because the snuff does not sniff out the virus, but the chemicals produced if you have a respiratory infection, so there are restrictions on it,” said Dr. Wilkinson added.
“When people hear about the sniff, they would assume that you can place the dog at the airport, and if someone is positive about COVID-19, they can sniff out the person,” said Dr. Wilkinson said. However, he said that could not be further from the truth.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
