State of the Art, Opportunities and Challenges in the Use of Medical Detection Dogs in the Laboratory and in the Field

The extraordinary olfactory sense of canines combined with the possibility to learn by operant conditioning enables dogs for their use as medical detection dogs in a wide range of applications. Research on the potential use of medical detection dogs for the identification of individuals with infectious or non-infectious diseases is emerging, but compared to the well-established and –accepted use of scent detection dogs by the police, army and customs for substances such as money, explosives or drugs., the deployment of medical detection dogs, as a medical test, is still in its infancy. In the recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic medical detection dogs have been discussed, as a viable option for mass screening, receiving significant attention by the public and the media. However, the medical profession continues to be skeptical of medical detection dogs.

The primary goal of this Research Topic is to explore critically the potential of canine scent detection as a medical test with a focus on infectious diseases such as COVID-19. This series discusses current knowledge on the function and importance of canines’ olfaction and evaluates its limitation and the potential role of the dog as a biomedical detector for infectious and non-infectious diseases.

This Research Topic asks for novel and original contributions on all aspects of the emerging field of canine medical scent detection and will provide a state of the art collection of review articles summarizing current knowledge in the field. Contributions of Original Research articles are encouraged. Commentary and Opinion articles may also be submitted.