Trained Rats Sniff out TB, Land Mines in Tanzania
MOROGORO (Tanzania) 5. September: Trained sniffer rats could be the new weapon in the battle against the quickly rising number of tuberculosis (TB) patients that go undiagnosed each year in Africa.
Nineteen African pouched rats (pungrotter) have been bred and trained in the past three years to detect and diagnose TB, with funding from a Development Marketplace (DM) grant.
The unusual idea is being developed into what could be one of modern times most useful medical technologies by APOPO, a group of Belgian and Tanzanian researchers and animal trainers.
The approach is very simple: rats sniff a series of holes, under which human sputum (spyt) samples are lined up for evaluation, and pinpoint the samples that contain TB bacteria.
– I was on a plane and heard in the news that the World Health Organization (WHO) made the announcement that in 2002 alone, 2 million people died of TB, mostly in Africa. And they projected that by 2015 that number will increase to 8 million, recalls Bart Weetjens, APOPOs director.
– At this point it became clear to me that it was really worth trying to see if rats could detect TB, because the social benefit would be enormous, explained he.
A DM Success Story
Indeed, he found, a trained rat can effectively diagnose several hundred sputum samples in a day, while a lab technician using a microscope can take that much time in analyzing just 20 samples.
APOPO won 163.780 US dollar for the TB rats project at the 2003 global Development Marketplace (DM) competition. To date, DM has funded more than 200 innovative development projects around the world.
DM funding helped APOPO build a research facility at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania, and begin piloting research and training of rats for TB detection.
In partnership with the leading Tanzanian national TB program, the project has since set up a sample collection program in four regional health centers that administer TB treatment. About 900 sputum samples are collected weekly, and used for comparative testing of the rats.
– We are trying to develop a tool to massively screen vulnerable populations like refugee camps, slums and such, so that suspected cases can be immediately referred to and treated in existing WHO structures, Weetjens said.
The Good Rat
With a life span of up to eight years and a highly developed sense of smell, the African pouched rat – which can reach the size of a cat – provides a good return on training. Widespread and easily adaptable to different environments, they are easy to breed, tame, transport and maintain.
Prior to deployment, the rats are trained to distinguish samples containing TB cultures from TB free samples. Their correct indications are rewarded with a food treat.
– There is plenty of possibility here. Because the main priority in a country like Tanzania is health, Weetjens said.
Rats that Sniff out Landmines
Weetjens, a successful DM project team leader who participated in this years global competition as a juror, first began working with rats in 1998, training a couple of hundred of them to sniff and detect unexploded landmines. With a maximum weight of 6 pounds (knapt 3 kg), the animals are too light to set off land mines.
The landmine rats – called HeroRATS – are now accredited according to International Mine Detection Standards, just like mine detection dogs. With a small staff in Mozambique and 23 HeroRATS, APOPO has cleared 100 acres (40 hektar) of mines.
Recently, the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) endorsed the technology for replication in its 11 country members. Weetjens said ICGLR identified the Angola – Zambia – DR Congo border as a priority zone, and as soon as funding is secured, HeroRATS will start clearing minefields there.
As it has grown its capacity, APOPO has attracted funding from various public and private sources. One of APOPOs original supporters is the Belgium government, while a more recent donor for the TB rats project is the Bethesda-based National Institutes of Health.
APOPO employs 126 people, 15 of whom focus on the TB program in Morogoro and 54 of them in Mozambique. Weetjens hopes that a third office will soon open, if the new ICGLR initiative leads to new funding.
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