Giant Sniffer Rats Detect Landmines and TB

Image: APOPO

Rats have never been my favorite creatures, but an organization called APOPO that is successfully putting these furry rodents to work on rather noble causes, takes them up a notch or two in my books.

The Belgian-Tanzanian social enterprise trains giant African pouched rats to sniff out landmines and tuberculosis. According to the organizations website, the rats are far more efficient than humans – they can search 100 square metres of suspected land in 20 minutes, and can screen 70 human sputum samples for the TB agent Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, in 20 minutes – both activities that would take deminers and lab technicians two full days. 

The African giant pouched rat is particularly good at detection, as it is light enough to not set off a mine, cheaper than a sniffer dog, easily conditioned and has a heightened sense of smell.

The rats have an impressive track record: they have assessed 38.5 kms of highway in South Mozambique and have detected over a hundred landmines, explosive devices and ammunition. APOPO says the rats have an 87 percent overall accuracy in detecting TB (37 percent for microscopy), and have diagnosed 577 patients missed by microscopy.