Active tuberculosis detection by pouched rats in 2014: More than 2,000 new patients found in two countries |
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| Authors: | Alan Poling Emilio Valverde Negussie Beyene Christiaan Mulder Christophe Cox Georgies Mgode Timothy L. Edwards |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Western Michigan University, Anti‐Persoonsmijen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling (APOPO);2. Anti‐Persoonsmijen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling (APOPO);3. Anti‐Persoonsmijen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling (APOPO)Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development;4. Anti‐Persoonsmijen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling (APOPO)Sokoine University of Agriculture;5. Anti‐Persoonsmijen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling (APOPO)University of Waikato |
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| Abstract: | Tuberculosis (TB) is a major problem in poor countries because sensitive diagnostic tools are unavailable. In 2014, our pouched rats evaluated sputum from 21,600 Tanzanians and 9,048 Mozambicans whose sputum had previously been evaluated by microscopy, the standard diagnostic for TB. Evaluation by the rats revealed 1,412 new patients with active TB in Tanzania and 645 new patients in Mozambique, increases of 39% and 53%, respectively, when compared to detections by microscopy alone. These results provide further support for the applied use of scent‐detecting rats. |
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| Keywords: | applied behavior analysis discrimination training tuberculosis pouched rats |
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