Pakistan starts using dogs to detect coronavirus

Sniffer dogs are now being used to identify passengers with coronavirus arriving at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar, Pakistan, Report informs, citing GeoNews.

The dogs have been specially trained to detect the COVID-19 infection among travelers arriving from abroad.

A delegation from the Pakistani National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) visited the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar and supervised the medical examination of passengers from two flights arriving at the airport.

The NCOC delegation was told in a briefing that rapid antigen tests are also being carried out on passengers arriving in Peshawar from abroad.

According to the airport's manager, Obaidullah Abbasi, the delegation said the coronavirus identification measures at the Peshawar airport were satisfactory.

He confirmed that trained sniffer dogs were being used to diagnose coronavirus among passengers.

Swab tests are done on incoming passengers and then a dog sniffs the swab to check for the virus, he explained, adding that if the dog sits down after sniffing the swab, the passenger is declared positive for COVID-19.

So far, coronavirus has been detected in four passengers at the Peshawar airport with the help of sniffer dogs. They were rushed to a hospital for quarantine.