MORE hospitals in Dar es Salaam and Morogoro regions are now in a position to use the African Giant pouched rats in diagnosis of tuberculosis.

The rats are managed by the Morogorobased Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and at present specimens are collected weekly from 17 Dar es Salaam hospitals and transported to SUA for TB detection.

It is said that the rats can examine 40 specimens in seven minutes, equal to what a skilled laboratory technician will do for the whole day. SUA Training Supervisor under APOPO, section that deals with training rats for landmine detection and TB screening, Mr Peter Luanda, said that the move has increased TB samples detection by over 40 per cent.

Mr Luanda was speaking to the 'Daily News' at the ongoing 37th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF). Some of the hospitals where samples are taken for TB detection by the rats include Sinza, Amana, Temeke and Mwanayamala.

Mr Luanda said that in 2011, the rats evaluated 25,819 sputum samples from 13,082 patients initially screened by smear microscopy at Direct Observation of Treatment. He noted that the use of rats is simulated second-line screening increased the new case detection rate.

Mr Luanda said that this amazing TB detection by rats, among other things, can detect a large number of specimens in five to 10 minutes thus reducing workload and increasing the notification rates of patients that are TB positive.

"The decision to distribute rats in all hospitals is yet to be reached because managing this task requires experts which are only found at SUA. It is for this reason that we only collect the samples and get them examined at our centre," he explained.

Since 2008, a team of 77 African giant pouched rats have been trained by the Belgian social enterprise Apopo to sniff out the killer infection tuberculosis. They've turned out to be faster and more accurate than local technicians with microscopes.

Tuberculosis kills many people in the world and can be difficult to detect with the outdated techniques used in poorly resourced clinics. As a result, many TB cases are missed.

The chunky light brown rodents, which have puffy cheeks and are up to 90 centimetres long including their tails, are taught to recognise the odour of mycobacterium tuberculosis in human phlegm or "sputum" samples, and to seek it out in return for a reward.