Dogs are being trained to sniff out COVID-19 in humans

From Live Science.com (May 1):

Scientists are training dogs to identify COVID-19 by following their noses.

A new program at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) is putting noses to the grindstone for disease detection. Researchers are working with dogs to see if the canines' superior sniffers can help with early detection of COVID-19 in humans.

Dogs that can pinpoint the scent of COVID-19 could identify infection in people who are asymptomatic, and could play a valuable role in disease response as people return to work and social-distancing restrictions are relaxed, Penn Vet representatives said in a statement.

Reports of dogs sniffing out cancer have been documented since the 1980s, Live Science previously reported. Many cells produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that have distinctive odors and are present "in human blood, saliva, urine or breath," Cynthia Otto, a doctor of veterinary medicine and a director of Penn Vet's Working Dog Center, said in the statement. [read more]