Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Environment Animals

Dogs can be trained to detect extremely dangerous superbug

Mihai Andrei by Mihai Andrei
December 14, 2012
in Animals, Science
Reading Time: 1 min read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

Researchers had already known that dogs can sniff out hospital superbug Clostridium defficile from stool samples of patients, but now, a really cute beagle has been trained to sniff out the bacteria from the air in the hospital.

Cliff – the beagle

C. difficile infection generally occurs in patients who have been recently admitted in hospitals and were previously on antibiotics. In this research, scientists from Netherlands have trained a dog which can detect the distinct smell in the bacteria’s stool.

Sorry to interrupt, but you should really...

...Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

They chose a two-year old beagle, called Cliff, for this study; beagles are known not only for their absolute cuteness, but also for their sharp sense of smell – for which they are commonly employed as detection dogs.

ADVERTISEMENT

Cliff’s detection abilities were tested, as he was asked to sniff 50 stool samples from the people who had the infection and 50 stool samples that were from healthy people; his results were remarkable, being able to identify all 50 positive samples and 47 out of the 50 negative samples. What’s even better was not only that he was super effective at sniffing out the bug, but he was also very quick. It took him less than 10 minutes per case – the official test takes several days and is quite costly.

“This could have great potential for C. difficile infection screening in healthcare facilities and thus contribute to C. difficile infection outbreak control and prevention,” researchers conclude.

ADVERTISEMENT

Tags: antibioticbeagleinfection
ShareTweetShare
Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Andrei's background is in geophysics, and he's been fascinated by it ever since he was a child. Feeling that there is a gap between scientists and the general audience, he started ZME Science -- and the results are what you see today.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.