Sniffing Out Disease: Meet the HeroRATs

In a world where fast diagnostics are critical, big solutions can come from the unlikeliest of places.

When we think of disease detection, we usually picture white coats, fancy labs, and pricey machines. But in many low-resource regions where tuberculosis (TB) spreads quietly, the real heroes have twitchy whiskers, sharp noses, and a love for bananas. Meet the African giant pouched rats, better known as HeroRATs, trained to sniff out TB faster and cheaper than most conventional methods.

This brilliant idea comes from APOPO, a nonprofit based in Tanzania and Belgium. They first gained fame for training rats to detect landmines in countries like Cambodia and Angola. Now, the same rats are making a huge difference in public health. TB is still one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases and often goes undiagnosed in areas with poor healthcare facilities. That is where these rats step in.

It might sound unusual, but they are built for the job. With an incredible sense of smell that rivals dogs, HeroRATs can detect the unique scent of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. While lab tests can take hours or even days, the rats can screen hundreds of samples in a single day. They are also quick learners, friendly, and inexpensive to keep, which makes them perfect for this work.

Their training is carefully designed. Rats are rewarded for correctly flagging TB positive samples already confirmed in the lab, which keeps results reliable. For safety, all sputum samples are heat inactivated before use. Even then, every positive sample identified by a rat is rechecked in the lab, creating a strong two step verification process.

With further research, scientists believe HeroRATs might even detect other diseases like brucellosis. In a world where healthcare is costly and fast diagnostics are critical, these little rats prove that big solutions can sometimes come from the unlikeliest of places.

References:

Agizew, Tefera B., et al. "Increased tuberculosis case detection in Tanzanian children and adults using African giant pouched rats." BMC Infectious Diseases 24.1 (2024): 401.