COVID-19: Can sniffer dogs give more accurate results than RT-PCR test - here's the answer The study was conducted between March 16 and April 9 at France's National Veterinary School in Maisons Alfort near Paris. (Image Source: Twitter/@HelsinkiAirport) Updated: May 25, 2021, 02:56 PM IST For long, sniffer dogs have been a very important part of the security services, helping security personnel to detect the presence of explosives, drugs, electronics, or invasive species. But now sniffer dogs are being used for a completely different purpose. Amid the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, now dogs can detect the virus in humans, a new study showed, paving the way for the broader use of sniffing canines in a global effort to contain the pandemic. According to a report in Bloomberg, the dogs' detection reached 97% sensitivity in the French study. The sniffing ability to identify positive samples was also 91% specific, which rates the dogs' ability to identify negatives.