Dogs' ability to detect an inflammatory immune response in cattle via olfaction
IntroductionCanine olfaction is a potential means for detection of respiratory disease in beef cattle. In a prior study, two dogs were trained to discriminate between nasal swabs from healthy cattle and cattle that developed Bovine Respiratory Disease. Dogs had some ability to identify samples from...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2024.1393289/full |
| _version_ | 1797216346618986496 |
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| author | Aiden E. Juge Nathaniel J. Hall John T. Richeson Reinaldo F. Cooke Courtney L. Daigle |
| author_facet | Aiden E. Juge Nathaniel J. Hall John T. Richeson Reinaldo F. Cooke Courtney L. Daigle |
| author_sort | Aiden E. Juge |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionCanine olfaction is a potential means for detection of respiratory disease in beef cattle. In a prior study, two dogs were trained to discriminate between nasal swabs from healthy cattle and cattle that developed Bovine Respiratory Disease. Dogs had some ability to identify samples from BRD-affected cattle, but results were ambiguous. The purpose of this study was to evaluate more dogs using better-controlled training and testing procedures.MethodsNasal and saliva swabs were collected from 96 cattle before and after administering a vaccine to induce an inflammatory immune response. Samples were stored at −80°C for up to 11 months before use, and samples from animals with an elevated body temperature at baseline were omitted. An automated olfactometer apparatus was constructed to improve blinding procedures and reduce opportunities for odor contamination. Four dogs were trained to distinguish between swabs from healthy and sickness-model cattle, including the two dogs from the previous study (“Runnels” and “Cheaps”) and two inexperienced dogs (“Molokai” and “Amy”). During a seven-month training period, dogs were exposed to samples from 28 animals. Dogs were tested on 59 sets of unfamiliar samples.ResultsPerformance varied among dogs (χ2 = 10.48, p = 0.02). Molokai's performance was above chance (0.73 ± 0.06, p = 0.0006), while Amy (0.44 ± 0.06, p = 0.43), Cheaps (0.53 ± 0.07, p = 0.79), and Runnels (0.56 ± 0.06, p = 0.43) did not respond correctly at a rate different from chance. Accuracy did not differ between nasal swabs (0.63 ± 0.08) and saliva swabs (0.53 ± 0.08, χ2 = 0.81, p = 0.37).DiscussionThe results of this study indicate that canine olfaction may be an effective means of detecting illness in beef cattle. However, individual dogs' aptitude for this detection task varies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T11:44:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1617d9c6d9bd46b985d8d4151632ac10 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-1769 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T11:44:30Z |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-1617d9c6d9bd46b985d8d4151632ac102024-04-09T11:47:20ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Veterinary Science2297-17692024-04-011110.3389/fvets.2024.13932891393289Dogs' ability to detect an inflammatory immune response in cattle via olfactionAiden E. Juge0Nathaniel J. Hall1John T. Richeson2Reinaldo F. Cooke3Courtney L. Daigle4Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United StatesDepartment of Animal Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, United StatesDepartment of Agricultural Sciences, West Texas A&M University, Canyon, TX, United StatesDepartment of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United StatesDepartment of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United StatesIntroductionCanine olfaction is a potential means for detection of respiratory disease in beef cattle. In a prior study, two dogs were trained to discriminate between nasal swabs from healthy cattle and cattle that developed Bovine Respiratory Disease. Dogs had some ability to identify samples from BRD-affected cattle, but results were ambiguous. The purpose of this study was to evaluate more dogs using better-controlled training and testing procedures.MethodsNasal and saliva swabs were collected from 96 cattle before and after administering a vaccine to induce an inflammatory immune response. Samples were stored at −80°C for up to 11 months before use, and samples from animals with an elevated body temperature at baseline were omitted. An automated olfactometer apparatus was constructed to improve blinding procedures and reduce opportunities for odor contamination. Four dogs were trained to distinguish between swabs from healthy and sickness-model cattle, including the two dogs from the previous study (“Runnels” and “Cheaps”) and two inexperienced dogs (“Molokai” and “Amy”). During a seven-month training period, dogs were exposed to samples from 28 animals. Dogs were tested on 59 sets of unfamiliar samples.ResultsPerformance varied among dogs (χ2 = 10.48, p = 0.02). Molokai's performance was above chance (0.73 ± 0.06, p = 0.0006), while Amy (0.44 ± 0.06, p = 0.43), Cheaps (0.53 ± 0.07, p = 0.79), and Runnels (0.56 ± 0.06, p = 0.43) did not respond correctly at a rate different from chance. Accuracy did not differ between nasal swabs (0.63 ± 0.08) and saliva swabs (0.53 ± 0.08, χ2 = 0.81, p = 0.37).DiscussionThe results of this study indicate that canine olfaction may be an effective means of detecting illness in beef cattle. However, individual dogs' aptitude for this detection task varies.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2024.1393289/fullcanineworking dogolfactiondisease detectionbovinecattle |
| spellingShingle | Aiden E. Juge Nathaniel J. Hall John T. Richeson Reinaldo F. Cooke Courtney L. Daigle Dogs' ability to detect an inflammatory immune response in cattle via olfaction Frontiers in Veterinary Science canine working dog olfaction disease detection bovine cattle |
| title | Dogs' ability to detect an inflammatory immune response in cattle via olfaction |
| title_full | Dogs' ability to detect an inflammatory immune response in cattle via olfaction |
| title_fullStr | Dogs' ability to detect an inflammatory immune response in cattle via olfaction |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dogs' ability to detect an inflammatory immune response in cattle via olfaction |
| title_short | Dogs' ability to detect an inflammatory immune response in cattle via olfaction |
| title_sort | dogs ability to detect an inflammatory immune response in cattle via olfaction |
| topic | canine working dog olfaction disease detection bovine cattle |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2024.1393289/full |
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