Did you know? Sniffer dogs can detect malaria in people

According to a study, dogs can sniff-out people infected with malaria. Read on to know more.

Editorial Team | Updated: October 31, 2018 3:57 pm

Want to know if you have malaria? Take sniffer dog's help. © Shutterstock

Malaria is a fatal disease which is transmitted through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito and can take a toll on your well-being. It can snatch away your peace. You won’t be able to carry out your day-to-day activities. But, these findings of the study will shock you.

According to the Scientists, they have trained dogs to sniff out tell-tale aromas of malaria using clothes from people infected with the life-threatening disease. One of the dogs who has been trained to sniff out the scent of malaria is Freya, a Springer Spaniel.

According to the researchers from Durham University in the UK, Freya’s highly sensitive nose can help provide the first non-invasive test for the disease.

Reportedly, according to Steve Lindsay, a professor at Durham University dogs could be trained to detect malaria-infected people by their odour with a credible degree of accuracy. This could provide a non-invasive way of screening for the fatal disease at ports of entry. Hence, the spread of malaria can be controlled in the countries which have been declared free from malaria. While, it will also help to ensure that people, whom might be unaware that they are infected with the malaria parasite, will be able to receive antimalarial drug treatment for the disease.

Reportedly, researchers from the Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia (MRCG) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) had used nylon socks to collect foot odour samples from apparently healthy children from the age group of 5-14 in the Upper River Region of The Gambia in West Africa.

With the help of a simple finger-prick test, the children were also screened to determine if they had the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in their blood. Reportedly, the sock samples were transported to the Medical Detection Dogs (MDD) charity in Milton Keynes, UK, where dogs were trained to differentiate between the scent of children infected with malaria parasites and those with uninfected. 175 sock samples along with the samples of 30 malaria-positive children identified by the study and 145 from uninfected children. According to researchers, the dogs correctly identified 70 per cent of the malaria-infected samples and 90 per cent of the samples without malaria parasites.

Published: October 31, 2018 3:45 pm | Updated:October 31, 2018 3:57 pm

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