Deacon, black Labrador Retriever, Advanced BioAnalytic detection dog

That employee who feels
fine this morning
is already contagious.

Influenza A and COVID-19 shed active virus 24–48 hours before a single symptom appears. By the time your staff member calls out sick, they've already worked a full shift — moving through common areas, handling residents, sharing the air. A trained detection dog identifies that pre-symptomatic viral signature in real time. Before one resident is exposed. Before one quarantine begins.

Scroll

001 / The Problem

An outbreak in a nursing home is a financial and human emergency.

The CDC classified the 2025–2026 influenza season as moderately severe. Nursing home hospitalization rates peaked at 54.1 per 100,000 residents during the week of January 3, 2026. Influenza A(H3N2) dominated — the same strain with the highest complication rates in elderly populations.

CMS simultaneously expanded Civil Monetary Penalty enforcement authority. A single Immediate Jeopardy citation during a preventable outbreak now risks $20,000+ per day in penalties — on top of the $620–$710 per empty bed, per day, during a quarantine.

Source: CDC FluView Weekly Surveillance Reports, 2025–2026 season (NHSN). CMS Final Rule CMS-1827-F, August 2025. MedPAC March 2025 Report to Congress.

Respiratory viruses threaten your facility
every month of the year.

No safe month.

COVID-19

Influenza A

Influenza B

RSV

Relative activity · CDC FluView, NHSN Nursing Home Respiratory Pathogen Module, CDC COVID Data Tracker · 2022–2026

002 / The Biology

The dog isn't detecting the virus. It's detecting what the virus does.

Respiratory viral infections alter host cellular metabolism through oxidative stress, immune activation, and altered lipid metabolism. These physiological changes release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) through skin secretions and breath.

A trained detection dog identifies that VOC signature — not the pathogen itself. That distinction matters: the dog can screen before symptoms emerge, before any test is ordered, in real time as residents move through the facility.

Peer-reviewed basis: Meller et al., Annals of Epidemiology 2023 (systematic review); Aksenov et al., ChemBioChem 2014 (influenza VOC profiles).

003 / Diagnostic Performance

Numbers that stand up in peer review.

Systematic reviews across controlled and operational studies consistently report:

81–97% Sensitivity for SARS-CoV-2 detection across study designs and sample types
91–100% Specificity — meaning a dog's alert is a real signal, not background noise
99% Pooled specificity reported in meta-analysis — comparable to some rapid antigen tests, with no lab processing time

Influenza A virus infection has been shown to produce distinct, subtype-specific VOC signatures in cell cultures — providing the biochemical basis for extending canine detection beyond COVID-19.

004 / The Process

How a program begins.

Initial Consultation We review your facility layout, resident census, and current infection control protocol.

Facility Walkthrough A site visit to assess entry points, common areas, and screening integration opportunities.

Program Design We design a screening schedule around your staffing workflow and peak exposure periods.

Live Demonstration Watch our dog work a controlled screening scenario with your staff before any commitment.

Protocol Integration Screening integrates with your existing infection control documentation and NHSN reporting.

005 / The Team

100 years of breeding behind each dog.

Every dog in our program is a Labrador Retriever drawn from Labncroft Partnership's four concurrent pedigree lines — a family breeding tradition stretching back to the late 1880s. No dog enters our program from a commercial kennel or open market source.

The detection dogs used in Advanced BioAnalytic's programs are not commercially sourced. They are purpose-selected and raised within a 100+ year working dog tradition. Labncroft received the 2026 Top Breeder award.

Dane Maltsberger, RRT — Registered Respiratory Therapist and AKC Scent Work competitor — leads every program from the intersection of respiratory medicine and canine olfactory science.

Early Labncroft Partnership — archived photograph

From the Archives

Labncroft Partnership — a working dog tradition that predates the modern kennel industry.

Visit Labncroft Partnership →

006 / See It Live

See the work before the conversation.

Watch a controlled scent-work screening — the same double-blind protocol used in every facility program.

Watch our dog work a live screening

Real scent targets · Double-blind protocol · Handler-independent indication

Book a Demo.

See our dog work a controlled screening scenario at your facility — before any program commitment. No obligation.

Fill in your details and we'll reach out within one business day.

info@advancedbioanalytic.com · (765) 585-1563 · Veedersburg, IN 47987

That employee who feelsfine this morning is already contagious.