Calling all dog lovers! Sign up to our TeamDogs newsletter for your weekly dose of dog news, pictures and stories Coronavirus infection has a distinct odour that can be detected by specially trained dogs with up to 94 per cent accuracy, UK research suggests.
The findings, which are yet to be peer-reviewed, are based on six dogs who tested more than 3,500 samples donated by the public and NHS staff.
The dogs were able to sniff out samples from people who were infected with coronavirus but were asymptomatic, as well as those who had low viral loads.
They were also able to identify infections caused by the coronavirus strain that was dominant in the UK last summer as well as the UK (Kent) version of the virus which appeared later in the year.