Turkiye trains K9 sniffer dogs to detect COVID-19 cases

STANBUL, TURKIYE - JUNE 12: As countries around the world are using various methods to detect the coronavirus, Turkiye is training a special mobile unit of K9 police dogs to detect COVID-19 cases across the country.Sniffer dogs are now claimed to detect a scent of people infected with coronavirus (COVID-19).K9 sniffer dogs, that are used to find explosives and drugs, distinguish COVID-19 patients from their smell, determining whether their tests are positive.These dogs, whose sense of smell is much more developed than that of humans, can also detect certain diseases in humans thanks to their noses.Also, a scientific study was conducted by a security company in Istanbul, involving the use of K9 dogs in the detection of positive coronavirus cases.Sweat samples taken from the armpits of the patients were sniffed by the K9 dogs used in the studies.It was observed that the dogs, whose training took about six months, could distinguish the smells of sick people. K9 dogs react by sitting in front of positive COVID-19 cases they detect.Anadolu Agency Video News (AAVN) on Wednesday (Jan. 12) videoed a sniffer dog which is being tested at the training center in the Bolluca neighbourhod in the Arnavutkoy district of Istanbul.Turgay Sahan, the General Manager of TAV Security told AAVN that they established a training center in 2019 to train K9 dogs."We found that K9 dogs had over 94 percent testing ability for COVID-19," he said.Orkun Kara, a K9 trainer, said that 10 dogs were trained to detect COVID-19 patients.“Almost all of our dogs are 90 percent successful. However, some of our dogs are a little more successful. We trust these dogs more,” Kara explained.Mentioning the training process, He also said "We collect armpit sweat samples from patients who test positive for COVID-19.""At the moment, our dogs know all the variants. They have memorized the scents," Kara added.(Footage by Cemaleddin Turan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)