Global Pulse Blog

Scientists at the APOPO Research Center in Tanzania have been training representatives of the African Giant Pouched Rat species, Cricetomys gambianus, to sniff out sputum samples from TB patients. In a study published recently in the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, the researchers report that 18 out of 20 trained rats had success rates with sensitivity of 72%-100% and false negative rates of under 9% (abstract; full text here).  (For comparison, the acid-fast staining method widely used for TB detection in low-resource settings has significant problems with sensitivity, with values reported from a low of 53% to an imperfect high of 93%.) ”The use of multiple rats significantly increased sensitivity and negative predictive value.”

The rats have some intensive training requirements, but in the global fight against the disease, they can be a useful tool.  Plus, they are kind of cute.  Read this excellent blog post at Take Part (includes pictures and a video of Cricetomys gambianus in action).

Story on BBC News here.

Cricetomys weigh 1-1.5 kg and can be raised for food or as a pet.  They can also detect land mines: link and video.  Now, why hasn’t Pixar made a movie about them?