Saturday, April 25, 2020

Now For Some Good News & COVID-19 May Be Going to The Dogs

There’s Some Good News Out There
John Krasinski, a star on The Office, has created a YouTube show called Some Good News (SGN). I happened to catch the 3rd episode. John does a great job of highlighting fun positive stuff. I proudly admit that I got tears during several of the segments. I would highly recommend that you watch the entire program, including when he stands up at the end of the show.

Here’s the ink https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg08rJGKjtA.

COVID-19 May Be Going to The Dogs
There’s an organization that trains dogs called Medical Detection Dogs. They have successfully trained dogs to detect the scent of diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's and bacterial infections. The dogs can also be trained to pick up subtle changes in skin temperature, which means they might also be used to locate people with fevers.

Claire Guest, founder and chief executive of Medical Detection Dogs, in an interview with CTV News said, "In principle, we're sure that dogs could detect COVID-19. We are now looking into how we can safely catch the odor of the virus from patients and present it to the dogs.

The aim is that dogs will be able to screen anyone, including those who are asymptomatic, and tell us whether they need to be tested. This would be fast, effective and noninvasive and make sure the limited NHS (National Health Service) testing resources are only used where they are really needed."

The head of disease control at the LSHTM believes that since trained dogs can detect malaria with "extremely high accuracy," and since other respiratory diseases have their own odor signatures, there's a "very high chance" scent detection dogs can be trained to pick up COVID-19.

According to Steve Lindsay of Durham University, the dogs may be used at airports in the future to identify travelers infected with the novel coronavirus, potentially helping to prevent the re-emergence of the disease.

I can envision them being used to quickly track down the people who are not showing symptoms but need to be quarantined to stop the spread of COVID-19. So…dogs may get another title besides Man’s Best Friend to Men and Women’s Life Saving Friend!
(Reported April 24, 2020 by Dr. Karen Becker, Mercola.com) 

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