Hopkins assumed that a mild version of Covid-19 was causing a standard post-viral loss of smell. A colleague in Italy, where the virus was known to be spreading, had mentioned that frontline doctors were losing their senses of smell and taste.

None of the patients had traveled to Italy or China, so they didn’t meet the government’s criteria for testing or quarantine: The virus, she understood, was not yet spreading in Britain.Īs each new patient told a strange yet similar story, she began to wonder. It was titled: “Loss of smell as marker of Covid-19 infection.”Īt first, it didn’t occur to Hopkins to think about the recently declared pandemic that was dominating the news. The cascading emails were all responding to the same rather obscure news alert, meant for ear, nose and throat doctors based in Britain.

Recipients copied other people they thought might be interested in the discussion, who added more people, who added still others, across a huge range of countries and disciplines. It wasn’t how many threads there were, though that was overwhelming, but the way they seemed to grow like Hydras, sprouting in all directions. Reed watched in amazement as the messages proliferated. It was important but niche science that seemingly had little to do with a dangerous respiratory virus spreading around the globe.Īnd then one Saturday, she checked her email. Reed, who is famous in her field for helping to discover a new family of receptors that perceive bitter flavors, had spent years studying the way human genetics affect the way we experience smell and taste. It was late March, and her laboratory at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia had abruptly gone into Covid-19 lockdown. ĭanielle Reed stopped counting after the 156th email arrived in a single afternoon. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

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