Giant Rats In African Prisons Take A Crack At Disease Prevention By Sniffing Out Tuberculosis
Rats have gained a pretty bad reputation throughout the centuries for spreading death and disease, but perhaps we’ve been too quick to judge these furry friends. Authorities in Southern Africa have shown that the Giant Pouched Rat, a slightly bigger version of its European and Asian cousins, are as adept at stopping disease as they are at spreading it. These rats can sniff out tuberculosis in the overcrowded prisons of Tanzania and Mozambique and play an important role in preventing outbreaks of this deadly disease among the most vulnerable populations.
