Giant Rats Detect Tuberculosis

Giant African rats spotted hundreds of TB-positive sputum samples that a standard microscope test missed on first pass, researchers report in the December American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Peter Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., Distinguished Research Professor, Walter G. Ross Professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, says the rats’ accuracy rate would need to improve for this low-tech approach to become a standard screening strategy.

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