APOPO
[3] APOPO started as an R&D organization in Belgium in the 1990s, working with the support of research and government grants to develop the concept of Detection Rats Technology.
After consulting with Professor Ron Verhagen, rodent expert at the department of evolutionary biology of the University of Antwerp, the Gambian pouched rat was determined to be the best candidate due to its longevity and African origin.
Both Weetjens and Cox had previously collaborated in a not-for-profit organisation that had been headed by Prof. Mic Billet, and together they started building a kennel facility for the training and breeding of African giant pouched rats.
They contacted the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) in Morogoro, Tanzania, and placed an order for the import of Gambian pouched rats.
In 2003 APOPO was awarded a grant from the World Bank, which provided seed funding to research another application of the rats: tuberculosis (TB) detection at SUA.
The rats' response is measured by optical sensors and the cage produces an automated click sound with food delivery.
[8] Following results in Tanzania, the TB detection program was replicated in 2013 at a clinic in Maputo, Mozambique, at the veterinary department of the Eduardo Mondlane University.
[12] Sixteen rats were maintained in the country at the request of the government in order to carry out residual (mop-up) tasks.
From 2013 to 2015 up to 31 rats assisted demining by heavy machinery and people with metal detectors at two sites, Ngola-Luije in Malanje and in Malele in Zaire Province, bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo.
[10][14] Following a six-month acclimatization and training period, 14 out of the 16 rats were accredited by CMAC in November 2015 to be used in mine clearance operations.
[15] APOPO operational headquarters, including the training and research centers, are based at the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania.
The TB programmes are operational in Tanzania and Mozambique, with offices based in Morogoro, Dar es Salaam and Maputo.
[3] When the southern giant pouched rats (Cricetomys ansorgei) used by APOPO[18] are flown in, they must first be acclimatised to the specific country, and be accredited by the local national agency, which takes a number of months.
The points indicated by the rats are marked, and then followed up later by technicians using metal detectors; the mines that are found are then excavated by hand and destroyed.
Animals such as dogs or rats detect only explosives and ignore scrap metal, such as old coins, nuts and bolts, etc., thus they are able to check areas of land faster than conventional methods.
[23] In the field, the practical rate is slower: rats are capable of searching up to 400 m2 (4,300 sq ft) each per day as part of a team that includes conventional equipment.
Manual demining teams are still the globally preferred method of landmine clearance, and currently, APOPO is the only organisation in the world to use giant rats.
When a rat detects tuberculosis (TB), it indicates this by keeping its nose in the sample hole and/or scratching at the floor of the cage.
In Mozambique only 50% of TB positive patients tested at clinics are actually identified, so the rats are used to double check the samples.
In 2015 APOPO began a study with the support of the USAID, screening prisoners in Tanzanian and Mozambican jails for tuberculosis.
