With many parts of the globe coming to a standstill in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, a British charity is trying to use dogs' sense of smell to detect coronavirus. Medical Detection Dogs, to jointly work with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine(LSHTM) and Durham University to determine whether the sniffer dogs could help diagnoses. 

The study is based on previous research into dogs' ability to sniff out malaria and on a belief that each disease triggers a distinct odour. The organizations said they had already begun preparations to train dogs in six weeks. 

They had previously trained sniper dogs to diagnose Parkinson's disease, bacterial infection, and cancer. For this, samples of infected persons were collected and made to sniff by the dogs. "Our belief is that dogs can detect a Covid 19 infection," says Claire, founder of the Medical Detection Dogs.

The only problem is how to safely collect the smell of the sick and present it to the dogs. Claire also claims that dogs can be used to identify patients who do not show symptoms and say if they need testing. As all respiratory illnesses alter the body's natural sense of smell., Scientists working on the project are hoping that the dogs will be able to detect Covid 19 with high accuracy. It is also hoped that the use of these dog services at the airport will greatly prevent the spread of the disease.

In India, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 16 in the country and 80 fresh cases were reported, taking the tally to 694, the Union health ministry said on Thursday.