title: Using giant African pouched rats to detect human tuberculosis: a review.
abstract: Despite its characteristically low sensitivity, sputum smear microscopy remains the standard for diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) in resource-poor countries. In an attempt to develop an alternative or adjunct to microscopy, researchers have recently examined the ability of pouched rats to detect TB-positive human sputum samples and the microbiological variables that affect their detection. Ten published studies, reviewed herein, suggest that the rats are able to detect the specific odor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes TB, and can substantially increase new-case detections when used for second-line TB screening following microscopy. Further research is needed to ascertain the rats' ability to detect TB in children and in HIV-positive patients, to detect TB when used for first-line screening, and to be useful in broad-scale applications where cost-effectiveness is a major consideration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008, United States of America ; APOPO, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Poling
authors.affiliation: APOPO, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mahoney
authors.affiliation: APOPO, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Negussie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Beyene
authors.affiliation: APOPO, Tanzania ; Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Georgies
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mgode
authors.affiliation: APOPO, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Weetjens
authors.affiliation: APOPO, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.affiliation: APOPO, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Durgin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019937:Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009812:Odorants; D012377:Rodentia; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology
keywords: Tuberculosis detection; discrimination learning; mycobacterium tuberculosis; operant conditioning; pouched rats; scent detection