Researchers in Britain and The Gambia say they have the first evidence that dogs can sniff out malaria, a skill that they say could lead to much quicker diagnosis of the killer disease.

The work was done with the charity Medical Detection Dogs.

The dogs were trained to smell the presence of the malaria parasite in infected children by sniffing their clothes.

Blood-sucking mosquitoes, which spread the disease, are thought to be attracted to the parasite's odour.

The researchers say that in addition to screening local communities, sniffer dogs may one day be used at airports to detect malaria carriers to help stop cross-border infection.

Malaria parasites seen through a microscope

Image caption: The dogs in the experiment could smell the malaria parasite

“While our findings are at an early stage, in principle we have shown that dogs could be trained to detect malaria infected people by their odour with a credible degree of accuracy,” said Prof Steve Lindsay, of Durham University, one of the scientists behind the project. “This could provide a non-invasive way of screening for the disease at ports of entry in a similar way to how sniffer dogs are routinely used to detect fruit and vegetables or drugs at airports.

“This could help prevent the spread of malaria to countries that have been declared malaria-free and also ensure that people, many of whom might be unaware that they are infected with the malaria parasite, receive antimalarial drug treatment for the disease.”

The study saw researchers from the Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine use nylon socks to collect foot odour samples from apparently healthy children aged five to 14 in the Upper River Region of Gambia in West Africa.