Rats… Man’s best friend
At least in the top ten besties. For most people, a rat is at best an unwelcome guest, and at worst, the target for immediate extermination. But in a field clinic in Tanzania, rats are heroes. Far from a trash bin-dwelling NYC street rat, the African giant pouched rat is docile, intelligent, easier to train than some dogs, and for East Africans, the performer of lifesaving tuberculosis diagnoses every day. 400,000 new cases of tuberculosis (TB) were estimated to have been prevented by these rats, whose sense of smell would make a bloodhound take notice. TB as the number-one killer among infectious diseases worldwide, many of those 400,000 can be translated into lives saved. “Not only are we saving people’s lives, but we’re also changing these perspectives and raising awareness and appreciation for something as lowly as a rat,” said Cindy Fast, a behavioral neuroscientist who coaches the rodents for the nonprofit APOPO.
APOPO uses giant pouched rats to sniff out traces of TB in the saliva of patients. In parts of Tanzania, a saliva smear test under a microscope by a human may only be 20-40% effective at detecting TB. It would take 4 days for scientists to analyze the number of samples that Carolina could screen in 20 minutes. TB remains the number-one cause of death globally from a single infectious pathogen. Tefera Agizew, MD told National Geographic that once people see what the nonprofit’s rodents can do to slow the spread, they “fall in love with them.” APOPO has made headlines for its use of these rats in other lifesaving tasks as well: landmine clearance. There are 110 million landmines or unexploded bombs in the ground right now in about 67 countries, covering thousands of square miles in potential danger. Thousands of civilians are killed or injured by these weapons every year. One rat named Magawa alone identified 39 landmines and 28 items of unexploded ordnance across an area the size of 20 football fields.
Rat noses work like a charm. These super sniffers can detect the presence of food in your house from outside the home and have even been shown to be able to detect incoming changes in the weather based on smell alone. Rats will be expanding their work to include prevention of illegal wildlife trafficking. You will see in the video below, rats might even get into search and rescue, detecting humans buried under rubble in natural disasters and alerting those who can help. This means these rats are going to continue their amazing work to keep saving human and animal life alike.
Ridiculous Rat Riddles
One rat asked the other rat if he’s had the vaccine?
“Nope, they’re still testing it on humans.
Let’s see how that goes.”
What do rich folks and rats have in common?
They’re leaving New York City.
What did one lab rat say to the other?
“I’ve got my scientist so well trained that every time I push the buzzer, he brings me a snack.”
French scientists announced that they can finally successfully clone a rat!
Thank goodness! This will solve the huge rat shortage.
April 7th Birthdays
1995 – Hallie Lou Richardson, 1994 – Giselle Kuri, 1974 – Jenna Fischer, 1915 – Billie Holiday
1954 – Tony Dorsett, 1975 – Tiki Barber, 1964 – Russel Crowe, 1954 – Jackie Chan