Rats can detect tuberculosis

One of my favorite Ashoka Fellows of all time is Bart Weetjens, founder of APOPO. Obsessed with rodents while growing up, Bart soon discovered that they have an uncanny sense of smell and that they can be trained.  So through his organization he started by training rats to detect landmines and he has found that rats are more effective than dogs in detecting them, and because their weight is so light, rats don't set off the mines. His model is gaining so much popularity that even the Colombian government has adopted it.

And our furry friends' story doesn't end there; Bart is originally Belgian and in Flemish Tuberculosis means "disease that smells bad." He asked himself: "would the rat's sense of smell be powerful enough to detect tuberculosis?" And indeed his team found that it was, and they also found that rats were faster and more accurate at detecting tuberculosis than a regular lab. You can see the technical reports for the laboratory testing here.

Interested in stories of change like Bart's? Ashoka has developed e-books that capture "Stories of Change." Bart is featured in Volume I: Fellows and their Journeys which is already available on line for free.

Enjoy!