{"id":1600,"date":"2021-02-02T12:56:06","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T04:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/?p=1600"},"modified":"2024-09-04T13:19:06","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T05:19:06","slug":"african-giant-rats-trained-to-sniff-out-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/2021\/02\/02\/african-giant-rats-trained-to-sniff-out-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"African giant rats trained to sniff out disease"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/magawa-2-1-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1609\" srcset=\"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/magawa-2-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/magawa-2-1-350x197.jpg 350w, https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/magawa-2-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/magawa-2-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/magawa-2-1-830x467.jpg 830w, https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/magawa-2-1-230x129.jpg 230w, https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/magawa-2-1-480x270.jpg 480w, https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/magawa-2-1.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Magawa, the most famous African giant rat<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n<button class=\"responsivevoice-button\" type=\"button\" title=\"ResponsiveVoice Tap to Start\/Stop Speech\" data-rvtts-action=\"speak\" data-rvtts-text=\"Magawa, the most famous African giant rat Occasionally small rats entered our kitchen to sniff out for leftover foods. If they are not lucky, they are caught by my cats, Salina\u00a0 Boy or Charlie. Instead of being considered a pest, a species of rat, the African giant pouched rat, is being trained to detect a disease that is devastating livestock and threatening the livelihoods of farmers in the world\u2019s poorest countries, as quoted by the Times of London on January 29th, 2021. Brucellosis is a highly contagious bacterial infection that causes infertility and low milk yields in cows, sheep, goats and pigs. Detection is hard and expensive. Glasgow University is working with researchers at Sokoine University in Tanzania on using sniffer rats to tackle the problem. The African giant pouched rats, which can grow to 91 cm in length, have already been trained to detect landmines and tuberculosis. Dan Haydon, director of the institute of biodiversity, animal health and comparative medicine at Glasgow University, said that the idea developed after he discovered how sniffer dogs were being used to detect brucellosis in Yellowstone\u00a0National Park, in the United States, where there is a brucella problem with elk, bison and cattle. \u201cProfessor Rudovick Kazwala, who is lead researcher at Sokoine, said, \u2018Aha, well, we already have this facility where rats are being specially trained to sniff landmines and tuberculosis\u2019\u201d, Professor Haydon said.\u201cSo, we figured if they can smell landmines and smell TB then surely we can get them to smell brucellosis. It turns out you can.\u201d The scientists received a grant to conduct the research through the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Testing has delivered encouraging results so far. The African giant pouched rat is used rather than the standard lab rat because they are easier to source in sub-Saharan Africa and live longer. It takes nine months and costs about \u00a35,000 to train a rat, which can then speed through 100 samples in 20 minutes. Magawa, the most famous African pouched rat Magawa has been awarded a prestigious gold medal for his work deteting land mine, according to the website, www.bbc.com on September 24th, 2020. Magawa has sniffed out 39 landmines and 28 unexploded munitions in his career. The UK veterinary charity PDSA has presented him with its Gold Medal for \u201clife -saving devotion to duty, in the location and clearance of deadly landmines in Cambodia\u201d. PDSA\u2019s Gold Medal is inscribed with the words \u201cFor animal gallantry or devotion to duty\u201d. Of the 30 animals recipients of the award, \u00a0Magawa is the first rat. The seven-year-old Magawa was trained by the Belgium-registered charity Apopo (www.apopo.org), \u00a0which is based in Tanzania and has been raising the animals,-known as HeroRats-to detect landmines and tuberculosis since 1990s. The animals are certified after a year of training. \u00a0 According to Apopo, Magawa was born and raised in\u00a0 Tanzania-weighs 1.2 kg and is 70 cm long. While that is far larger than many other socies, Magawa is still small enough and light enough that he does not trigger mines if he walks over them. The rats are trained to detect a chemical compound\u00a0 within the explosives, \u00a0meaning they ignore scrap metal and can search for mines more quickly. Once they find an explosive, they scratch the top to alert their human co-workers. Magawa is capable of searching a field the size of a\u00a0 tennis court in just 20 minutes-something Apopo says would take a person with a metal detector between one and four days. Magawa works for just an hour a day in the mornings and is nearing retirement age, but PDSA director, Jan McLoughlin, said his work with Apopo was \u201ctruly unique and outstanding\u201d. \u201cMagawa\u2019s work directly saves and changes the lives of men, women and children who are impacted by these landmines, says PDSA. \u201cEvery discovery he makes reduces the risk of injury or death for local Cambodians.\u201d The training of African giant pouched rat African giant pouched rats can live between 6 to 8 years. This long lifespan for \u00a0a rat makes training a worthwhile \u00a0investment. They are food motivated and willing to work with just about any handler for a proper reward. \u00a0 From now on, I will tell my cats not to kill the rats around our house as their species are saving human lives in countries which have the problem of landmines and \u00a0unexploded munitions. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\" data-rvtts-voice=\"UK English Female\"><svg class=\"rvtts-icon\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 22 22\" fill=\"currentColor\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11 0C4.92345 0 0 4.92345 0 11C0 13.2683 0.690345 15.3772 1.86621 17.1221L0.811724 21.0517L4.70345 20.0124C6.48621 21.2641 8.65586 22 11 22C17.0766 22 22 17.0766 22 11C22 4.92345 17.0766 0 11 0ZM3.99793 9.99862C3.99793 9.44483 4.44552 8.99724 4.99931 8.99724C5.5531 8.99724 6.00069 9.44483 6.00069 9.99862V12.0014C6.00069 12.5552 5.5531 13.0028 4.99931 13.0028C4.44552 13.0028 3.99793 12.5552 3.99793 12.0014V9.99862ZM8.99724 13.9966C8.99724 14.5503 8.54966 14.9979 7.99586 14.9979C7.44207 14.9979 6.99448 14.5503 6.99448 13.9966V7.99586C6.99448 7.44207 7.44207 6.99448 7.99586 6.99448C8.54966 6.99448 8.99724 7.44207 8.99724 7.99586V13.9966ZM12.0014 17.0007C12.0014 17.5545 11.5538 18.0021 11 18.0021C10.4462 18.0021 9.99862 17.5545 9.99862 17.0007V4.99931C9.99862 4.44552 10.4462 3.99793 11 3.99793C11.5538 3.99793 12.0014 4.44552 12.0014 4.99931V17.0007ZM14.9979 13.9966C14.9979 14.5503 14.5503 14.9979 13.9966 14.9979C13.4428 14.9979 12.9952 14.5503 12.9952 13.9966V7.99586C12.9952 7.44207 13.4428 6.99448 13.9966 6.99448C14.5503 6.99448 14.9979 7.44207 14.9979 7.99586V13.9966ZM18.0021 12.0014C18.0021 12.5552 17.5545 13.0028 17.0007 13.0028C16.4469 13.0028 15.9993 12.5552 15.9993 12.0014V9.99862C15.9993 9.44483 16.4469 8.99724 17.0007 8.99724C17.5545 8.99724 18.0021 9.44483 18.0021 9.99862V12.0014Z\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"responsivevoice-button__label\">Listen to Post<\/span><\/button>\n\n\n\n<p>Occasionally small rats entered our kitchen to sniff out for leftover foods. If they are not lucky, they are caught by my cats, Salina&nbsp; Boy or Charlie. Instead of being considered a pest, a species of rat, the African giant pouched rat, is being trained to detect a disease that is devastating livestock and threatening the livelihoods of farmers in the world\u2019s poorest countries, as quoted by the Times of London on January 29<sup>th<\/sup>, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brucellosis is a highly contagious bacterial infection that causes infertility and low milk yields in cows, sheep, goats and pigs. Detection is hard and expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Glasgow University is working with researchers at Sokoine University in Tanzania on using sniffer rats to tackle the problem. The African giant pouched rats, which can grow to 91 cm in length, have already been trained to detect landmines and tuberculosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dan Haydon, director of the institute of biodiversity, animal health and comparative medicine at Glasgow University, said that the idea developed after he discovered how sniffer dogs were being used to detect brucellosis in Yellowstone&nbsp;National Park, in the United States, where there is a brucella problem with elk, bison and cattle. \u201cProfessor Rudovick Kazwala, who is lead researcher at Sokoine, said, \u2018Aha, well, we already have this facility where rats are being specially trained to sniff landmines and tuberculosis\u2019\u201d, Professor Haydon said.\u201cSo, we figured if they can smell landmines and smell TB then surely we can get them to smell brucellosis. It turns out you can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The scientists received a grant to conduct the research through the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Testing has delivered encouraging results so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The African giant pouched rat is used rather than the standard lab rat because they are easier to source in sub-Saharan Africa and live longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It takes nine months and costs about \u00a35,000 to train a rat, which can then speed through 100 samples in 20 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Magawa, the most famous African pouched rat<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Magawa has been awarded a prestigious gold medal for his work deteting land mine, according to the website, www.bbc.com on September 24<sup>th<\/sup>, 2020. Magawa has sniffed out 39 landmines and 28 unexploded munitions in his career. The UK veterinary charity PDSA has presented him with its Gold Medal for \u201clife -saving devotion to duty, in the location and clearance of deadly landmines in Cambodia\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>PDSA\u2019s Gold Medal is inscribed with the words \u201cFor animal gallantry or devotion to duty\u201d. Of the 30 animals recipients of the award, &nbsp;Magawa is the first rat. The seven-year-old Magawa was trained by the Belgium-registered charity Apopo (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.apopo.org\">www.apopo.org<\/a>), &nbsp;which is based in Tanzania and has been raising the animals,-known as HeroRats-to detect landmines and tuberculosis since 1990s. The animals are certified after a year of training. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Apopo, Magawa was born and raised in&nbsp; Tanzania-weighs 1.2 kg and is 70 cm long. While that is far larger than many other socies, Magawa is still small enough and light enough that he does not trigger mines if he walks over them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rats  are trained to detect a chemical compound&nbsp; within the explosives, &nbsp;meaning they ignore scrap metal and can search for mines more quickly. Once they find an explosive, they scratch the top to alert their human co-workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Magawa is capable of searching a field the size of a&nbsp; tennis court in just 20 minutes-something Apopo says would take a person with a metal detector between one and four days. Magawa works for just an hour a day in the mornings and is nearing retirement age, but PDSA director, Jan McLoughlin, said his work with Apopo was \u201ctruly unique and outstanding\u201d. \u201cMagawa\u2019s work directly saves and changes the lives of men, women and children who are impacted by these landmines, says PDSA. \u201cEvery discovery he makes reduces the risk of injury or death for local Cambodians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The training of African giant pouched rat<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>African giant pouched rats can live between 6 to 8 years. This long lifespan for &nbsp;a rat makes training a worthwhile &nbsp;investment. They are food motivated and willing to work with just about any handler for a proper reward. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From now on, I will tell my cats not to kill the rats around our house as their species are saving human lives in countries which have the problem of landmines and &nbsp;unexploded munitions. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Occasionally small rats entered our kitchen to sniff out for leftover foods. If they are not lucky, they are caught by my cats, Salina&nbsp; Boy or Charlie. Instead of being considered a pest, a species of rat, the African giant pouched rat, is being trained to detect a disease that is devastating livestock and threatening &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/2021\/02\/02\/african-giant-rats-trained-to-sniff-out-disease\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;African giant rats trained to sniff out disease&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-1600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-must-read-reports"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":false,"audio_player":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1600"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3456,"href":"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600\/revisions\/3456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1600"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datodranuar.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=1600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}