First COVID-19 Detection Dogs Deployed at any US Airport Arrive at Miami International

Eighteen months into the pandemic, Miami International Airport (MIA) has just become the first U.S. airport to utilize special COVID-19 detector dogs. More specifically, it’s the nation’s first airport to test corona-sniffing canines by hosting a 30-day COVID-19 detector dog pilot program

MIA’s new canine workers received special training with COVID-sniffing protocols created by the Global Forensic and Justice Center (GFJC) at Florida International University (FIU). Cobra (a Belgian Malinois) and One Betta (a Dutch Shepherd) have been deployed at an employee security checkpoint as part of the pilot program.

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The Miami-Dade Aviation Department, in partnership with GFJC at FIU, and American Airlines are able to host the 30-day trial at MIA thanks to a resolution sponsored by Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kionne L. McGhee and approved by the Board of County Commissioners in March of this year.

Detection dogs are able to immediately identify and alert to the virus in public spaces like airports with great accuracy. In fact, in published peer-reviewed, double-blind trials, the dogs achieved accuracy rates of between 96 and 99 percent for detecting COVID-19.

These special canines have completed hundreds of training sessions at FIU's Modesto Maidique Campus in Miami this year, through which they’re taught to alert to the scent of COVID-19.

The virus causes certain metabolic changes within a person’s body that wind up producing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are excreted on a person’s breath and sweat, and carry a specific scent that the dogs can discern. If one of the dogs signals that an individual is emitting the odor that accompanies the virus, that person is then directed to take a rapid COVID-19 test.

Detection dogs have long been used by both federal and local agencies in their operations at MIA to sniff out prohibited currency, drugs, explosives and agricultural products. They have also been shown through numerous studies to be one of the most reliable tools for identifying substances and even human diseases using scent alone. Previous studies have proven that such highly trained dogs can reliably recognize whether individuals have certain diseases, including diabetes, epilepsy and certain cancers.

"This pandemic has pushed us to innovate to stop the spread. I applaud Commissioner McGhee and the County Commission for thinking outside the box with this initiative," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. "We're proud to do everything we can to protect our residents. I look forward to seeing how the airport tests their skills and expanding the pilot program to other County facilities."

"Being able to apply decades of research in this way, to provide an additional layer of protection to airport employees at Miami International Airport, it's humbling," Dr. Kenneth G. Furton, FIU Provost and Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, remarked. "These dogs are another valuable tool we can leverage to help us live with this ongoing pandemic."