UPenn-U.S. Army Study To Train Dogs To Detect COVID-19

Can dogs be trained to sniff out COVID-19 infections in asymptomatic individuals? A cooperative program involving the U.S. Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Chemical Biological Center and the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) Working Dog Center, which has trained dogs in the past to detect cancer and diabetes, aims to find out. The project, first conceived in March and formally established in mid-May, is working to train dogs to detect biomarkers of COVID-19, reported “Task & Purpose,” a military-oriented website. The goal “is to train dogs to detect the disease state before a person starts showing signs of disease such as fever, coughing, and shortness of breath,” researcher Michele Maughan said in an Army statement.