當地時間9月22日，芬蘭赫爾辛基萬塔機場16只嗅探犬正式上崗，它們能在10秒內檢查出旅客是否感染新冠病毒。專家指出，它們還能夠在癥狀出現前幾天識別出病毒，這是連實驗室測試都無法做到的。

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機場都很常見，邊境人員用它們來探測非法物品和違禁品。

contraband [?k?ntr?b?nd]：n.走私；走私貨

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

現在，一些狗的嗅探技能要用來做另一件事——探測新冠病毒。

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

作為芬蘭赫爾辛基萬塔機場試驗的一部分，經過專門訓練的狗本周開始嗅探乘客檢測新冠病毒。

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

志愿者們正在為這項研究計劃訓練一支由15只狗和10名教員組成的隊伍。

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.

實施這項試驗的赫爾辛基大學教授安娜·希爾姆-比約克曼對路透社說，狗可以在人類出現癥狀的5天前檢測出新冠病毒。

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

她說：“它們非常擅長（檢測新冠病毒），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，然后把這塊布放在一個罐子里，放在狗狗面前讓它們聞，幾分鐘內就可以得出結果。

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.

不過，盡管這項試驗已經初現曙光，還需要做更多的研究來證明測試的有效性。目前，參與試驗的乘客還被要求進行拭子檢測以確認結果。

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".

萬塔市副市長蒂姆·阿倫克托表示，未來這些狗可能會“像海關稽查犬一樣繞著乘客嗅探”。

英文來源：BBC

翻譯&編輯：yaning