“Scratch and sniff” Africas HeroRATS
I know, 2008 was the year of the rat – so I’m a year late….guilty as charged, but then again, things are ‘never late in Africa’ are they?
I heard about this extraordinary use of rats years ago and am hoping that sharing it today will bring a smile to many faces. Although Mozambique’s civil war ended nearly two decades ago, unexploded ordinance continues to be a major cause of injury and death. But now they have a solution. Rats! Local giant rats are being trained and employed to assist in mine detection.
De-mining rat
The rats are attached to little red harnesses and guided down the length of a 100-square-meter field by their trainer. When the rat hits on a suspected mine, it stops, sniffs and starts to scratch. These rats are not only huggable, but they are smart (unlike some African politicians who are neither smart nor huggable), they work fast – two can cover 200 sq m per day – an area that takes a human 2 weeks. And are too light to detonate the mines they’re sniffing so don’t worry, they do not go BOOM…splat!
The project to train rats started in Tanzania as a collaboration between Belgians and Tanzanians at Sokoine University through an organization called APOPO. They call the rats HeroRATS and their website is full of information, history, heroRAT worship and yes, you can even adopt a HeroRat for 5 Euro per month, chose between Allan, Chosen One, Kim or Ziko.
Landmine Detection
APOPO has been working in Mozambique since 2003 engaged in the development of a low cost and efficient mine detection methodology. The aim has been to facilitate the clearance of landmines and unexploded ordinance (UXO), and the reduction of landmine victims, whilst reducing the cost of these activities to a level where they can be affordable for the countries that need them, rather than relying on foreign aid or donor support to fund the necessary work.
Since 2006 APOPO has run a fully operational mine clearance program in Mozambique and in 2008 was tasked as the sole operator for continuing the clearance of Gaza Province in Mozambique. The goal is to clear all known remaining minefields in Gaza Province by 2014, in accordance with Mozambique’s mine-ban treaty extension request deadline.
In order to meet this goal APOPO uses a collaborative approach called “district-by-district evaluation.” Leaders and community members from surrounding villages of a suspected area are interviewed to learn about where accidents may have occurred in the past, where they believe any remaining suspected areas are, as well as any background information about why mines were laid, as people who fought in the war(s) may still be members of that community. This information, in conjunction with existing surveys by demining operators or previous clearance activities, helps to root out any remaining suspected areas, or unexploded ordinance (UXO). It also aims to verify and document that all community members, in all districts, are confident to state that there are no known remaining areas containing landmines.
The APOPO Mine Action Program in Mozambique uses a three-tiered approach:bush cutters clear vegetation from the area, allowing access for manual deminers to enter the minefield and prepare safe lanes and boxes for the mine detection rats (official HeroRAT name in the minefield) to search. The locations that are indicated by the rats are then followed up by manual deminers, who detect and destroy the mines.
Once all the land in a district is complete, there is a ceremony where the land is officially handed back to the community. From that point forward, the community is able to return to their homes, start farming, build necessary infrastructure etc.
By the close of 2009, APOPO had returned 1,312,027 square meters of land to the community.
To learn more about why mines were laid in Mozambique see the Mozambique Mine History page on our APOPO site.
TB Detection
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. As data reported by the World Health Organization indicate, TB was responsible for the deaths of 1,770,000 people in 2007. TB currently infects about 2 billion people and roughly 1 in 10 of them will become seriously ill with the disease.
Currently, TB cases are detected through sputum smear microscopy, which is a slow and costly process that has not changed much over 100 years. Moreover, the test is not very accurate. Many countries' chances to successfully fight TB in the future depend very much on their capacity to detect TB cases quickly and accurately. In Tanzania, less than half of active TB cases were detected (2007).
HeroRATs offer a local solution to the TB epidemic. A rat can evaluate 40 samples in seven minutes, equal to what a skilled lab technician, using microscopy, will do in one day. Without requiring sophisticated instruments, this method is non-invasive and can handle a high volume of samples, all very important factors in a pro-active screening approach.
The concept is very simple: rats sniff a series of holes, under which human sputum samples are lined up for evaluation. They pinpoint the samples that contain TB bacteria. Their correct indications are rewarded with a food treat.
Currently the HeroRATs serve as a second line screen for a population of 500,000 people in deprived communities in Dar es Salaam. Each week, the HeroRATs find 5 to 10 patients that have been missed by microscopes.
At this stage, APOPO’s TB detection program is in a research phase. Proof of principle has been provided, and we’re now working towards full implementation. APOPO aims to become a first line screen for tuberculosis allowing for rapid case detection, with confirmation to be completed by microscopy or another technology. Once validated, HeroRATs could screen vulnerable populations in slums, refugee camps or prisons. Suspected TB patients could then be referred to existing public health centers for confirmation and treatment.