Czech trainers teach dogs to sniff out Covid

 

Czech trainers teach dogs to sniff out Covid

捷克訓練師教導狗狗偵測冠狀病毒疾病

【摘要2021.2.22.自由】◎陳成良

In a dog training centre built inside a shipping container located in a Czech mountain village, Renda, Cap and Laky are being put to the test.

捷克山村一座貨櫃打造的犬隻訓練中心內，「倫達（Renda）」、「凱普（Cap）」和 「拉奇（Laky）」正接受考驗。

They sniff at six vessels, each containing a piece of cloth with scent from patients with Covid-19, negative donors, or fake samples.

牠們嗅聞6個容器，每個容器都內含一塊布料，有的帶有武漢肺炎（新型冠狀病毒病，COVID-19）患者的氣味，有的是採檢呈陰性者身上的氣味，或者根本是假樣本。

The team of dog trainers are working in their own time and report a 95-percent success rate in Covid-19 detection in samples of human scent.

這群犬隻訓練員利用自己的閒暇時間進行研究，通報（犬隻）在人體氣味樣本偵測COVID-19方面，成功率高達95%。

"The study is designed to verify dogs’ ability to detect Covid-19 and generate a method enabling the use of trained dogs in combatting the pandemic," project head Gustav Hotovy told AFP.

計畫負責人霍托維告訴法新社：「這項研究目的在驗證犬隻偵測COVID-19的能力，並設計出一種能利用經過訓練的犬隻來對抗疫情的方法。」

The samples used are obtained merely by rubbing a piece of cotton against the patient’s skin. The team then has to ensure the sample is virus-free to prevent the dogs from catching the disease.

研究人員僅以一小團摩擦過患者皮膚的棉布來取得樣本，接著必須確認樣本上面並未沾染病毒，以防犬隻染疫。

Using the same sampling method, a Finnish team has been using dogs for testing at Helsinki airport, reporting its dogs can detect the virus with close to 100 percent accuracy.

芬蘭一個研究團隊也用相同的採樣方法，利用犬隻在赫爾辛基機場進行篩檢，並通報團隊犬隻偵測病毒的準確率近乎百分之百。

新聞辭典

Covid：名詞，冠狀病毒疾病，為Coronavirus Disease的縮寫。

put to the test：片語，使受試驗；使受考驗。例句：His courage was put to the test .（他的勇氣受到考驗。）

verify︰證實、核實。例句︰Subsequent events verified my suspicions.（接續發生的事件證實了我的懷疑。）