Doctoral student Jacqueline Burgess from La Trobe University (in Australia) has identified odor molecules associated with the small brown stomach worm.The identification of specific odors associated with the presence of these parasites, will enable the researchers to design an electronic "nose" device to detect them. A detector may ultimately be refined using biosensor technology, to have sheep checked automatically for worms.
This work has been encouraged by the previous success of "Seb", the German Shepherd sniffer dog, trained at La Trobe to detect parasite-infected sheep poo.
Read news release from FreshScience
