Page 21 - UNAM’s National Capstone Contributions

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UNAM COVID-19 Sniffer Dogs

The School of Veterinary Medicine embarked upon an Training
ambitious project to train Africa’s first COVID-19 sniffer The dogs involved have three training sessions a week.
dogs. The first stage of training involves obedience training,
followed by sniffing training. A total of five handlers train
Dogs have a superior sense of smell, and their olfactory the dogs at UNAM’s Neudamm Campus.
receptors amount to about 30 million compared to
humans who average about six million. In this UNAM Why dogs at SoVM?
project, beagles were trained to detect the virus in This project was realised with another aim to aid student
people who carry the virus. training as far as non-invasive practicals are concerned.
It gives early research and community service exposure
Conrad Brain, a Physiology and Epidemiology lecturer to students: medical and wildlife product detection by
at the University, explained that the project was realised sniffing (volunteering staff and students).
in 2020 by the School of Veterinary Medicine when they
realised the implications of the virus. The project has garnered public interest, which has led
to the establishment of a Trust by Judge, David Smuts,
The project was realised in collaboration with veterinary Dr Solly Amadhila, Dr Nad Brain, Dr L Brandt, and Dr A
schools in Finland and France. The intention was to train Marais. So far, the Trust manages donations in cash and
dogs and deploy them in areas that would assist with kind. To date it has raised N$494 000 plus free food and
containing the virus such as borders and airports. They vaccines for the dogs.
could also be used to screen tourists coming into the
country. Subsequently, a dog training Unit has been constructed
at Neudamm Campus. The Main sponsors are: Hills
The pilot project at UNAM is conducted by a team of Science Diet, MSD, Pupkewitz Foundation, Capricorn
veterinarians, doctors, dog trainers, dog handlers, and Holdings, and some members of the public.
a legal expert at Neudamm near Windhoek. Dr Anna
Marais, the Associate Dean of the School of Veterinary The Future of the project is focused on continuing to
Medicine explained that beagles are the most suitable perfect training techniques for detection dogs (medical
dog species for the job, due to their extremely well- and wildlife), as well as offer extension services to
developed sense of smell. So far, the dogs have been dogs and handlers from NAMPOL, MHSS, MET, Airports,
proven to be 95% accurate in sniffing out Covid-19- Schools, and other interested institutions.
infected individuals. Dogs have been used to detect
hidden narcotics, weapons, and diseases such as For more information, please contact:
cancer. Dr Anna Marais, ( +264 61 206 4183
Email: amarais@unam.na

UNAM Projects Addressing National Priority Areas