Specially trained dogs are being used to sniff out Clostridioides difficile (C diff) to help guide environmental cleaning efforts, according to an article on the Contagion website.
C diff is especially challenging as it produces spores that are very tough to kill, which makes disinfection a hurdle.
Vancouver Coastal Health is using C diff canine scent detection. The trained dogs can detect C diff with 97% accuracy.
A Vancouver team has trained two dogs and is working on getting more through the program. The dogs also increase staff engagement and have helped reduce environmental contamination.
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