当地时间9月22日，芬兰赫尔辛基万塔机场16只嗅探犬正式上岗，它们能在10秒内检查出旅客是否感染新冠病毒。专家指出，它们还能够在症状出现前几天识别出病毒，这是连实验室测试都无法做到的。

Sniffer dogs Valo (L) and E.T., being trained to detect the coronavirus from the arriving passengers' samples, are seen in Helsinki Airport in Vantaa, Finland September 22, 2020. Picture taken September 22, 2020. REUTERS/Attila Cser

Sniffer dogs are a familiar sight at airports all over the world, where border agents use them to detect illegal substances and contraband.

嗅探犬在世界各地的机场都很常见，边境人员用它们来探测非法物品和违禁品。

contraband [ˈkɒntrəbænd]：n.走私；走私货

Now some dogs are using their noses for a different purpose - coronavirus.

现在，一些狗的嗅探技能要用来做另一件事——探测新冠病毒。

Dogs specially trained to detect Covid-19 have this week started sniffing passengers as part of a trial at Finland's Helsinki-Vantaa airport.

作为芬兰赫尔辛基万塔机场试验的一部分，经过专门训练的狗本周开始嗅探乘客检测新冠病毒。

Volunteers are training a team of 15 dogs and 10 instructors for the research programme.

志愿者们正在为这项研究计划训练一支由15只狗和10名教员组成的队伍。

Sniffer dog Miina, being trained to detect the coronavirus from the arriving passengers' samples, works in Helsinki Airport in Vantaa, Finland September 15, 2020. Picture taken September 15, 2020. REUTERS/Attila Cser

The dogs can detect coronavirus in humans five days before they develop symptoms, Anna Hielm-Bjorkman, the University of Helsinki professor who is running the trial, told Reuters news agency.

实施这项试验的赫尔辛基大学教授安娜·希尔姆-比约克曼对路透社说，狗可以在人类出现症状的5天前检测出新冠病毒。

"They are very good [at detecting coronavirus]. We come close to 100% sensitivity," she said.

她说：“它们非常擅长（检测新冠病毒），敏感度接近100%。”

Passengers wipe their necks with cloths, which are then placed in a can and put in front of dogs to sniff. A canine test can deliver a result within minutes.

乘客用布擦脖子，然后把这块布放在一个罐子里，放在狗狗面前让它们闻，几分钟内就可以得出结果。

But while the trial has shown early promise, more research needs to be done to prove the efficiency of canine testing. At the moment, passengers who take part in the trial are also instructed to take a swab to confirm the result.

不过，尽管这项试验已经初现曙光，还需要做更多的研究来证明测试的有效性。目前，参与试验的乘客还被要求进行拭子检测以确认结果。

Vantaa Deputy Mayor Timo Aronkyto said it was possible that the dogs could in future "go around passengers in a similar way to customs dogs".

万塔市副市长蒂姆·阿伦克托表示，未来这些狗可能会“像海关稽查犬一样绕着乘客嗅探”。

英文来源：BBC

翻译&编辑：yaning

来源：中国日报网