Using giant African pouched rats to detect tuberculosis in human sputum samples: 2010 findings
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Date
2011-07-17
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Abstract
Giant African pouched rats previously have detected tuberculosis (TB) in human sputum samples in which the presence of TB was not initially
detected by smear microscopy. Operant conditioning principles were used to train these rats to indicate TB-positive samples. In 2010, rats trained
in this way evaluated 26,665 sputum samples from 12,329 patients. Microscopy performed at DOTS centers found 1,671 (13.6%) of these patients
to be TB-positive. Detection rats identified 716 additional TB-positive patients, a 42.8% increase in new-case detection. These previously
unreported data, which extend to over 20,000 the number of patients evaluated by pouched rats in simulated second-line screening, suggest that
the rats can be highly valuable in that capacity.
Description
Pan African Medical Journal 2011, Vol 9:28
Keywords
Giant African pouched, Tuberculosis, Human sputum, TB