title: Using giant African pouched rats to detect tuberculosis in human sputum samples: 2010 findings.
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.
authors.affiliation: Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling, Morogoro, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Amanda M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Mahoney
authors.forename: Bart J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Weetjens
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Negussie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Beyene
authors.forename: Georgies
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mgode
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jubitana
authors.forename: Dian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kuipers
authors.forename: Rudovic
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kazwala
authors.forename: Godfrey S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Mfinanga
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Durgin
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Poling
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009812:Odorants; D012377:Rodentia; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis*