To test for COVID-19, a dog’s nose can match a nose swab

測試是否罹患武漢肺炎，一隻狗的鼻子堪比鼻腔拭子採檢

【摘要2022-10-30日.自由】◎林雨萱

Two years ago, several groups of scientists showed dogs could reliably identify the scent of people who had COVID-19.

2年前，數個科學團隊證明，狗狗能夠可靠地辨別罹患武漢肺炎感染者的氣味。

Now one of those groups has gone on to show that dogs are every bit as reliable as lab tests at detecting cases of COVID-19.

現今其中一支團隊持續證明狗狗跟測出武漢肺炎病例的實驗室篩檢一樣可靠。

And they’re even better than PCR tests for identifying infected people who don’t have symptoms.

而且牠們甚至比PCR篩檢辨別無症狀感染者的效用更好。

“Some evidence suggests the dogs can pick up symptom-free infections up to 48 hours before people test positive by PCR, ” Dominique Grandjean, a veterinarian at Alfort National Veterinary School, said.

法國阿爾福特國立大學獸醫學院獸醫多明尼克．格蘭讓說，一些證據顯示狗狗可以在PCR篩檢呈陽性的前48小時，挑出無症狀感染者。

The animals may provide friendly alternatives for testing people who balk at nasal swabs.

對於害怕鼻腔拭子採檢的人們來說，這些動物提供友善的替代方案。

新聞辭典

swab：名詞，醫用棉花棒、用藥籤取下的化驗標本。例句：Daddy uses a swab to clean my ears.（爸爸用一根棉花棒清理我的耳朵。）

reliable：形容詞，可靠的。例句：According to reliable information, there will be a public protest tomorrow.（根據可靠消息，明天將有一場公開抗議。）

every bit as：副詞片語，跟…同樣。例句：Peggy studys every bit as hard as those outstanding classmates. (佩琪跟她成績優異的同學們一樣認真念書。)