Giant rats detect tuberculosis
Animals can be trained to sniff out TB in sputum samples, adding to accuracy of microscope test
By Nathan Seppa
Low-income countries struggling to keep tuberculosis under control might get a boost from an unlikely source — giant African rats.
The big rodents spotted hundreds of TB-positive sputum samples that a standard microscope test missed on first pass, researchers report in the December American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
The TB bacterium currently infects one in three people worldwide, the World Health Organization estimates, with the highest rates in Africa.