Development of a safety protocol for training and using SARS-CoV-2 detection dogs: A pilot study

Demirbas Y., Kismali G., Saral B., Sareyyüpoğlu B., Habiloğlu A. D., Öztürk H., ...Daha Fazla

JOURNAL OF VETERINARY BEHAVIOR-CLINICAL APPLICATIONS AND RESEARCH, cilt.60, ss.79-88, 2023 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 60
  • Basım Tarihi: 2023
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.jveb.2023.01.002
  • Dergi Adı: JOURNAL OF VETERINARY BEHAVIOR-CLINICAL APPLICATIONS AND RESEARCH
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, CAB Abstracts, Psycinfo, Veterinary Science Database
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.79-88
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Decontamination, Face mask, Medical detection dog, SARS-CoV-2, Zoonotic potential, VOLATILE ORGANIC-COMPOUNDS, SNIFFER DOGS, TUBERCULOSIS
  • Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Medical detection dogs have potential to be used to screen asymptomatic patients in crowded areas at risk of epidemics such as the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. However, the fact that SARS-CoV-2 detection dogs are in direct contact with infected people or materials raises important concerns due to the zoonotic potential of the virus. No study has yet recommended a safety protocol to ensure the health of SARSCoV-2 detection dogs during training and working in public areas. This study sought to identify suitable decontamination methods to obtain nonpathogenic face mask samples while working with SARS-CoV-2 detection dogs and to investigate whether dogs were able to adapt themselves to other decontamination procedures once they were trained for a specific odor. The present study was designed as a four-phase study: (a) Method development, (b) Testing of decon- tamination methods, (c) Testing of training methodology, and (d) Real life scenario. Surgical face masks were used as scent samples. In total, 3 dogs were trained. The practical use of 3 different decontam- ination procedures (storage, heating, and UV-C light) while training SARS-CoV-2 detection dogs were tested. The dog trained for the task alerted to the samples inactivated by the storage method with a sensitivity of 100 % and specificity of 98.28 %. In the last phase of this study, one dog of 2 dogs trained, alerted to the samples inactivated by the UV-C light with a sensitivity of 91.30% and specificity of 97.16% while the other dog detected the sample with a sensitivity of 96.00% and specificity of 97.65 %. (c) 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.