Tanzania's TB detection rats aid efforts in epidemic fight

The 10 TB-detection rats are working alongside 12 staff made up of rat handlers and laboratory technicians. [iStockphoto]

At least 19 African giant pouched rats are at the frontline of scaling up efforts aimed at ending tuberculosis (TB) in Tanzania by accelerating early detection.

In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's biggest city, 10 trained rats are housed in a forested state-of-the-art laboratory in the compounds of the Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Agency with only one mission: to detect TB with the highest accuracy.