Miami International 1st US airport to test COVID detector dogs

MIAMI, Fla. — Miami International Airport (MIA) says it’s the archetypal U.S. airdrome to trial COVID-19-sniffing dogs done a caller aviator program.

The Miami-Dade Aviation Department is partnering with the Global Forensic and Justice Center (GFJC) astatine Florida International University (FIU) to big a 30-day COVID-19 detector canine aviator programme astatine MIA.

Everyday travelers visiting the airdrome whitethorn not travel successful interaction with the detector dogs, though. The airdrome says the canines are deployed astatine an worker information checkpoint.

There are 2 dogs successful the aviator programme astatine MIA – Cobra, a Belgian Malinois, and One Betta, a Dutch Shepherd. They’ve been trained to alert to the scent of COVID-19. MIA says the dogs person the imaginable to instantly observe and respond to the coronavirus successful nationalist spaces similar airports.

“The microorganism causes metabolic changes successful a idiosyncratic that effect successful the accumulation of volatile integrated compounds (VOCs),” the airdrome explained. “The VOCs are excreted by a person’s enactment and sweat, producing a scent that trained dogs tin detect. The metabolic changes are communal for each people, careless of their idiosyncratic scents. If a canine indicates an idiosyncratic is carrying the odor of the virus, that idiosyncratic is directed to get a accelerated COVID test.”

According to officials, the dogs person achieved accuracy rates from 96% to 99% for detecting COVID-19 successful published, peer-reviewed, double-blind trials.

Once the aviator programme ends successful September, FIU volition proceed to enactment connected the accuracy and specificity of the dogs pursuing scientifically validated methods, which officials accidental volition assistance successful COVID-19 variant detection.

In the past, detector dogs similar these person successfully been capable to observe radical that person diseases, specified arsenic diabetes, epilepsy, and definite cancers. They’ve besides been utilized to observe prohibited currency, drugs, explosives, and agriculture.