Scent dog identification of SARS-CoV-2 infections in different body fluids

BMC Infectious Diseases

Christiane Ernst¹  Michael Engels²  Wencke Schäfer²  Esther Schalke²  Anja Petrov³  Ulrich Schotte³  Katharina Marquart³  Marylyn Martina Addo⁴  Anahita Fathi⁴  Isabell Pink⁵  Tobias Welte⁵  Holger Andreas Volk⁶  Sebastian Meller⁶  Paula Jendrny⁶  Friederike Twele⁶  Michael Peter Manns⁷  Janek Ebbers⁸  Hans Ebbers⁸  Claudia Schulz⁹  Albertus Dominicus Marcellinus Eras Osterhaus⁹  Maren von Köckritz-Blickwede⁹  Veronika Pilchová⁹ 

[1] Bundeswehr Medical Service Headquarters;Bundeswehr School of Dog handling, Gräfin-Maltzan-Kaserne;Central Institute of the Bundeswehr Medical Service Kiel;Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University Medical-Center Hamburg-Eppendorf;Department of Respiratory Medicine, Hannover Medical School;Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover;Hannover Medical School;KynoScience UG;Research Center for Emerging Infections and Zoonoses, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover;

关键词: SARS-CoV-2;    Volatile organic compounds;    Scent detection dogs;    Saliva;    Urine;    Sweat;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12879-021-06411-1

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Background The main strategy to contain the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic remains to implement a comprehensive testing, tracing and quarantining strategy until vaccination of the population is adequate. Scent dogs could support current testing strategies. Methods Ten dogs were trained for 8 days to detect SARS-CoV-2 infections in beta-propiolactone inactivated saliva samples. The subsequent cognitive transfer performance for the recognition of non-inactivated samples were tested on three different body fluids (saliva, urine, and sweat) in a randomised, double-blind controlled study. Results Dogs were tested on a total of 5242 randomised sample presentations. Dogs detected non-inactivated saliva samples with a diagnostic sensitivity of 84% (95% CI: 62.5–94.44%) and specificity of 95% (95% CI: 93.4–96%). In a subsequent experiment to compare the scent recognition between the three non-inactivated body fluids, diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 95% (95% CI: 66.67–100%) and 98% (95% CI: 94.87–100%) for urine, 91% (95% CI: 71.43–100%) and 94% (95% CI: 90.91–97.78%) for sweat, 82% (95% CI: 64.29–95.24%), and 96% (95% CI: 94.95–98.9%) for saliva respectively. Conclusions The scent cognitive transfer performance between inactivated and non-inactivated samples as well as between different sample materials indicates that global, specific SARS-CoV-2-associated volatile compounds are released across different body secretions, independently from the patient’s symptoms. All tested body fluids appear to be similarly suited for reliable detection of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals.

【 授权许可】

Unknown