Doctors in Paris have sniffed out another potential symptom of COVID-19: anosmia.

They report the case of a woman in her 40s who presents with an acute loss of smell without any nasal obstruction or loss of taste.

A few days before presentation she also experienced a dry cough with headache and muscle pain but no fever or rhinorrhoea, according to the report in JAMA Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery.

The doctors assessed the patient’s olfactory function with a ‘smell test’ of five odorants: phenyl-ethyl-alcohol (flower rose), cyclotene (caramel), isovaleric acid (goat cheese), undecalactone (fruits) and skatole (manure) – none of which she was able to identify or even detect.