Covid-19 has a distinct smell that can be detected by specially trained dogs with up to 94% accuracy, research suggests.
In a new study, the highly trained canines can detect the virus in seconds - faster than PCR and more accurate than lateral flow tests.
The findings, not yet peer-reviewed, are based on six dogs who tested more than 3,500 odour samples donated by the public and NHS staff.
The eager dogs were able to sniff out samples from people infected with coronavirus but asymptomatic, as well as those who had low viral loads.
The dogs were also able to identify infections caused by two different variants, including the Kent strain.
Project leader Prof James Logan, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “What was great was the dogs that have been trained on the original variant... could detect the new variant without any additional training.
"So this gives us real hope and really suggests that dogs are able to detect different variants of Covid.”
The charity Medical Detection Dogs provided Asher, Kyp, Lexie, Tala, Millie, and Marlow to take part in the trial.
