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Dogs have an incredible ability to sniff out a wide range of things, from bombs and drugs to cadavers, bed bugs, and even, strangely, whale feces. Now, these remarkable animals are being trained to detect malaria by simply sniffing human socks.
Malaria is a mosquito-transmitted illness that led to approximately 445,000 deaths globally in 2016, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). While it is most common in Africa, the disease affects many regions worldwide. As of 2016, almost half of the global population was at risk of contracting it.
Although malaria is treatable, its early symptoms can be subtle or hard to identify. If left untreated for more than 24 hours, the disease can progress rapidly and become fatal. Existing diagnostic techniques are also slow, as they rely on blood samples that need to be sent to labs for analysis.
Trained dogs could provide a life-saving service in the future. A team of researchers from the UK has demonstrated that two trained dogs—a Labrador-Golden Retriever named Lexi and a Labrador named Sally—were able to detect the scent of malaria on socks worn by infected children in The Gambia, West Africa. Although their study is still in its early phases, the researchers are hopeful that trained dogs could eventually be used to diagnose malaria more rapidly and prevent its spread across borders.
Lead researcher Steve Lindsay, a professor at Durham University's Department of Biosciences, mentioned in a statement, “This could offer a non-invasive screening method for the disease at entry points, similar to how sniffer dogs are used to detect fruits, vegetables, or drugs at airports.”
The study’s results will be presented on October 29 at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. The team collected 175 sock samples, including those from 30 children whose blood tested positive for the malaria parasite *Plasmodium falciparum*. The dogs, which are trained by the Medical Detection Dogs charity in Milton Keynes, UK, were able to correctly identify 70 percent of malaria-infected samples and 90 percent of non-infected samples.
After the study's conclusion, a third dog—a Springer Spaniel named Freya—also received training to detect malaria. While dogs have been trained to identify cancers and changes in blood sugar levels in diabetic patients, this is the first instance of dogs being trained to detect a parasitic infection. Researchers believe that while artificial odor sensors may be developed in the future, trained dogs could offer a valuable tool in the global fight against malaria for now.
