Rats have generally been seen as a worthless mammal, but a new study shows that rats can help diagnose tuberculosis (TB).
Researchers have found that large rats can help diagnose tuberculosis, says a report published in The New York Times.
They say large rats can smell the bacteria in a sputum sample, a method of testing for TB that is fast, cheap and widely available.
The existing laboratory tests for TB are expensive and complicated.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also recently endorsed a new machine that can give accurate results in under two hours.
However, the device costs $17,000 and each test requires a $17 cartridge. Rats, of course, are cheaper.
Studies suggest that the Gambian pouched rat is a treasure when it comes to diagnosing TB.
It is an omnivorous rodent with puffy cheeks and that chillingly familiar rat body and tail.
The Gambian pouched rat weighs 10 to 15 pounds and thrives in colonies of up to 20 all over sub-Saharan Africa.
It can smell the difference between tuberculosis bacilli and the myriad of other germs that inhabit human phlegm.
The animals’ sensitivity – that is, their ability to detect the presence of tuberculosis – ranged as high as 86.6 percent, and their specificity, or ability to detect the absence of the germ, was over 93 percent.
Some experts, however, concede that research on the rats is still preliminary.
“We think that eventually there will be a place for them in first-line screening,” says a researcher.
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