French Authorities Use Police Sniffers to Detect COVID-19 during Cannes Film Festival

The French security authorities have trained police sniffers to detect the suspects infected with the Coronavirus (known also as COVID-19),  by the distinguished sense of smell at dogs.

The French a Filmuthorities seek to check the pandemic during the days of the Cannes Film   Festival which kicked off last Tuesday.

The festival that is held in the coastal city Cannes runs until July 17.

"France Bleu", a satellite channel revealed that two police dogs were trained two dogs to detect the COVID-19 as a part of the strategy of fighting the deadly virus during the festival and the other summer activities.

Ludovic Velock, a local police official in Cannes, said that the trained dogs detect the virus by the odor of sweat on hands, feet, and thigh as the dog concentrates on those limbs.

To develop the technique of smelling the sweat, the dogs smell Kleenexes wet with sweat taken from infected people.

However, those who attend the festival are obliged to wear facial masks or show licenses (PCR) or a certificate of vaccination.

In the same context, the French Ministry of Health has permitted training hundreds of dogs after publishing the results of a study conducted by veterinary Maisons Alfort School in  Val-de-Marne.

According to Grand Gene, a French official, the dogs were trained for 15 days in special centers in Paris, Corsica, and Bordeaux.

The dogs detected the guests of the festival by smelling their sweat when they disembarked in Marseille.

Gene pointed out that the trained dogs may be dispatched to nursing homes in order to simplify family visits, according to the head of the Handi'Chiens association, which is involved in the project.

According to the report  authored by France Bleu, "this method of examination, whose scientific reliability has been successfully confirmed at the national and international levels, is a real revolution thanks to the time savings it generates."