Dog-sized rats sniff out TB in patients

[n2doc]

Chris Tachibana writes: Could a giant, spit-sniffing rat save your life? Maybe — they can be better than humans at diagnosing tuberculosis.

A pilot program in Tanzania is using trained rats to smell TB in sputum samples. Up to 1,000 samples a week are collected from local hospitals by APOPO, a nonprofit that also trains rats to sniff out landmines. Although the TB samples have already been checked by a human under the microscope, the rat pack’s sniff tests have improved disease detection by 44 percent because the clever rodents often find TB that was missed.

While the World Health Organization estimates that 2 billion people around the world are infected with TB, it can be hard to detect under a microscope, particularly in those who are also HIV positive. That’s where the giant rats can help. They might turn out to be just as accurate at finding TB. They're low-tech and could screen for TB in resource-limited countries. They’re also faster than the standard microscope test, says Bart Weetjens, APOPO founder. A human with a microscope can process 40 samples a day. A rat can do 40 in seven minutes, he says.

Weetjens, who was inspired by a childhood pet rat, started APOPO in the 1990s to train giant pouched rats, which are native to sub-Saharan Africa, to detect land mines in the region. The rats were so good at sniffing out hidden bombs that in 2003, APOPO started training their nosy little friends to smell TB in a spit sample. Currently working with a team of 30 rats, APOPO is now optimizing their unique program, so in the future, it might be used in other communities.

http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/08/13/4879912-dog-sized-rats-sniff-out-tb-in-patients

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Would they get antsy if they were sic'd on Carl Rove, his moniker

after all was TB.

[snagglepuss]

2. That one mighty big rat. Well if we are going to have the varmits they might as well

earn their piece of cheese.

[felix_numinous]

3. Please leave those in Tanzania

I don't care what they can sniff.

[undergroundpanther]

4. I want one..

They are adorable..I wonder how my cats would react to a rat as big as they are? Both Bear and Sparkle are friendly and do not harm my normal sized rat,Fink.

[n2doc]

5. Me too

I suspect your cats would be fine with it. Cats always seem to know when someone is a pet, rather than prey.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. These rats have their DU fans ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=9281274&mesg_id=9281525

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=562876&mesg_id=562876

http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4545444&mesg_id=4545444