Sniffer Rats Improve Tuberculosis Detection Rates in Children

Trained rats could represent the answer to the need for more effective ways of diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) in children, according to researchers at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. Studies by Georgies F. Mgode and colleagues demonstrated how specially trained African giant pouched rats were able to sniff out 68% more cases of TB infection in children’s sputum samples than could be diagnosed by standard smear microscopy tests. The rats are trained to detect a specific combina