The Indian army is training dogs to find Covid-19 in its ranks by sniffing human sweat and urine, a senior officer has said.

Breeds such as cocker spaniels and labradors are being trained to detect the disease from the cells of infected people at a facility in New Delhi, according to a Reuters report.

Several countries are considering using dogs to identify the coronavirus at airports and other public spaces. But the military deployment is the first time in India that dogs are being used to detect Covid-19, said Colonel Surender Saini, an army dog trainer.

“Based on the data from the samples which we have tested till now, we can infer the ability to detect the disease is more than 95 per cent among sniffer dogs,” Saini said.