Ratas, entrenadas para detectar tuberculosis y minas

A rat handler carries on his arm an African giant pouched rat at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 17, 2016. APOPO trains the rats to sniff for traces of landmine explosives at its facility. Every year landmines kill or maim thousands of people worldwide. The trained rats sniff for explosive and so are able to detect the presence of landmines far faster than conventional methods which involve metal detection. Metal detection is longer and more laborious because detection equipment picks up all metal traces in the ground including scrap metal. APOPO deploy the trained rats to work in mine affected areas like Cambodia, Lao, Vietnam and Mozambique. To date APOPO has helped countries detect 69,269 landmines which have been destroyed by the countries authorities. Land mine clearance is also crucial to farmers and citizens reclaiming and using land which was previously unavailable due to landmine risk. / AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA

A lab technician holds an African giant pouched rat at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 16, 2016. APOPO trains rats to detect both tuberculosis and landmines at its facility. Rats are given sputum samples, some of which contain tuberculosis traces and some which don't, the rats indicate that believe they have detected the disease by pausing for longer at a sample, the sample is then marked for further testing and confirmation. The rats are as effective as conventional lab screening of samples but can screen 100 samples in 20 minutes, a workload which would take a lab technician 4 days to complete. In November 2015, the World Health Organization named Tuberculosis as the world’s top infectious disease killer, citing more annual deaths from TB than from HIV. 1 in 3 HIV deaths is related to TB. Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria and spreads from person to person through the air. Despite its reputation as a deadly and highly contagious disease, tuberculosis it is completely curable and preventable if detected. / AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA

A lab technician holds an African giant pouched rat at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 16, 2016. APOPO trains rats to detect both tuberculosis and landmines at its facility. Rats are given sputum samples, some of which contain tuberculosis traces and some which don't, the rats indicate that believe they have detected the disease by pausing for longer at a sample, the sample is then marked for further testing and confirmation. The rats are as effective as conventional lab screening of samples but can screen 100 samples in 20 minutes, a workload which would take a lab technician 4 days to complete. In November 2015, the World Health Organization named Tuberculosis as the world’s top infectious disease killer, citing more annual deaths from TB than from HIV. 1 in 3 HIV deaths is related to TB. Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria and spreads from person to person through the air. Despite its reputation as a deadly and highly contagious disease, tuberculosis it is completely curable and preventable if detected. / AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA

Lab technicians work with an African giant pouched rat at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 16, 2016. APOPO trains rats to detect both tuberculosis and landmines at its facility. Rats are given sputum samples, some of which contain tuberculosis traces and some which don't, the rats indicate that believe they have detected the disease by pausing for longer at a sample, the sample is then marked for further testing and confirmation. The rats are as effective as conventional lab screening of samples but can screen 100 samples in 20 minutes, a workload which would take a lab technician 4 days to complete. In November 2015, the World Health Organization named Tuberculosis as the world’s top infectious disease killer, citing more annual deaths from TB than from HIV. 1 in 3 HIV deaths is related to TB. Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria and spreads from person to person through the air. Despite its reputation as a deadly and highly contagious disease, tuberculosis it is completely curable and preventable if detected. / AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA

A photo shows an African giant pouched rat at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 16, 2016. APOPO trains rats to detect both tuberculosis and landmines at its facility. Rats are given sputum samples, some of which contain tuberculosis traces and some which don't, the rats indicate that believe they have detected the disease by pausing for longer at a sample, the sample is then marked for further testing and confirmation. The rats are as effective as conventional lab screening of samples but can screen 100 samples in 20 minutes, a workload which would take a lab technician 4 days to complete. In November 2015, the World Health Organization named Tuberculosis as the world’s top infectious disease killer, citing more annual deaths from TB than from HIV. 1 in 3 HIV deaths is related to TB. Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria and spreads from person to person through the air. Despite its reputation as a deadly and highly contagious disease, tuberculosis it is completely curable and preventable if detected. AFP PHOTO/Carl de Souza / AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA

A photo shows an African giant pouched rat in a cage at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 16, 2016. APOPO trains rats to detect both tuberculosis and landmines at its facility. Rats are given sputum samples, some of which contain tuberculosis traces and some which don't, the rats indicate that believe they have detected the disease by pausing for longer at a sample, the sample is then marked for further testing and confirmation. The rats are as effective as conventional lab screening of samples but can screen 100 samples in 20 minutes, a workload which would take a lab technician 4 days to complete. In November 2015, the World Health Organization named Tuberculosis as the world’s top infectious disease killer, citing more annual deaths from TB than from HIV. 1 in 3 HIV deaths is related to TB. Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria and spreads from person to person through the air. Despite its reputation as a deadly and highly contagious disease, tuberculosis it is completely curable and preventable if detected. AFP PHOTO/Carl de Souza / AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA

A photo shows African giant pouched rats in cages at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 16, 2016. APOPO trains rats to detect both tuberculosis and landmines at its facility. Rats are given sputum samples, some of which contain tuberculosis traces and some which don't, the rats indicate that believe they have detected the disease by pausing for longer at a sample, the sample is then marked for further testing and confirmation. The rats are as effective as conventional lab screening of samples but can screen 100 samples in 20 minutes, a workload which would take a lab technician 4 days to complete. In November 2015, the World Health Organization named Tuberculosis as the world’s top infectious disease killer, citing more annual deaths from TB than from HIV. 1 in 3 HIV deaths is related to TB. Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria and spreads from person to person through the air. Despite its reputation as a deadly and highly contagious disease, tuberculosis it is completely curable and preventable if detected. AFP PHOTO/Carl de Souza / AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA

A lab technician holds an African giant pouched rat at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 16, 2016. APOPO trains rats to detect both tuberculosis and landmines at its facility. Rats are given sputum samples, some of which contain tuberculosis traces and some which don't, the rats indicate that believe they have detected the disease by pausing for longer at a sample, the sample is then marked for further testing and confirmation. The rats are as effective as conventional lab screening of samples but can screen 100 samples in 20 minutes, a workload which would take a lab technician 4 days to complete. In November 2015, the World Health Organization named Tuberculosis as the world’s top infectious disease killer, citing more annual deaths from TB than from HIV. 1 in 3 HIV deaths is related to TB. Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria and spreads from person to person through the air. Despite its reputation as a deadly and highly contagious disease, tuberculosis it is completely curable and preventable if detected. / AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA

A lab technician handles sputum samples at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 16, 2016. APOPO trains African giant pouched rats to detect both tuberculosis and landmines at its facility. Rats are given sputum samples, some of which contain tuberculosis traces and some which don't, the rats indicate that believe they have detected the disease by pausing for longer at a sample, the sample is then marked for further testing and confirmation. The rats are as effective as conventional lab screening of samples but can screen 100 samples in 20 minutes, a workload which would take a lab technician 4 days to complete. In November 2015, the World Health Organization named Tuberculosis as the world’s top infectious disease killer, citing more annual deaths from TB than from HIV. 1 in 3 HIV deaths is related to TB. Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria and spreads from person to person through the air. Despite its reputation as a deadly and highly contagious disease, tuberculosis it is completely curable and preventable if detected. / AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA

Lab technicians work with an African giant pouched rat at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 16, 2016. APOPO trains rats to detect both tuberculosis and landmines at its facility. Rats are given sputum samples, some of which contain tuberculosis traces and some which don't, the rats indicate that believe they have detected the disease by pausing for longer at a sample, the sample is then marked for further testing and confirmation. The rats are as effective as conventional lab screening of samples but can screen 100 samples in 20 minutes, a workload which would take a lab technician 4 days to complete. In November 2015, the World Health Organization named Tuberculosis as the world’s top infectious disease killer, citing more annual deaths from TB than from HIV. 1 in 3 HIV deaths is related to TB. Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria and spreads from person to person through the air. Despite its reputation as a deadly and highly contagious disease, tuberculosis it is completely curable and preventable if detected. / AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA

An African giant pouched rat sniffs for traces of landmine explosives at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 17, 2016. APOPO trains the rats to detect both tuberculosis and landmines at its facility. Every year landmines kill or maim thousands of people worldwide. The trained rats sniff for explosive and so are able to detect the presence of landmines far faster than conventional methods which involve metal detection. Metal detection is longer and more laborious because detection equipment picks up all metal traces in the ground including scrap metal. APOPO deploy the trained rats to work in mine affected areas like Cambodia, Lao, Vietnam and Mozambique. To date APOPO has helped countries detect 69,269 landmines which have been destroyed by the countries authorities. Land mine clearance is also crucial to farmers and citizens reclaiming and using land which was previously unavailable due to landmine risk. / AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA

An African giant pouched rat sniffs for traces of landmine explosives at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 17, 2016. APOPO trains the rats to detect both tuberculosis and landmines at its facility. Every year landmines kill or maim thousands of people worldwide. The trained rats sniff for explosive and so are able to detect the presence of landmines far faster than conventional methods which involve metal detection. Metal detection is longer and more laborious because detection equipment picks up all metal traces in the ground including scrap metal. APOPO deploy the trained rats to work in mine affected areas like Cambodia, Lao, Vietnam and Mozambique. To date APOPO has helped countries detect 69,269 landmines which have been destroyed by the countries authorities. Land mine clearance is also crucial to farmers and citizens reclaiming and using land which was previously unavailable due to landmine risk. / AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA

A rat handler carries on his shoulder an African giant pouched rat at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 17, 2016. APOPO trains the rats to sniff for traces of landmine explosives at its facility. Every year landmines kill or maim thousands of people worldwide. The trained rats sniff for explosive and so are able to detect the presence of landmines far faster than conventional methods which involve metal detection. Metal detection is longer and more laborious because detection equipment picks up all metal traces in the ground including scrap metal. APOPO deploy the trained rats to work in mine affected areas like Cambodia, Lao, Vietnam and Mozambique. To date APOPO has helped countries detect 69,269 landmines which have been destroyed by the countries authorities. Land mine clearance is also crucial to farmers and citizens reclaiming and using land which was previously unavailable due to landmine risk. / AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA

A rat handler plays with an African giant pouched rat at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 17, 2016. APOPO trains the rats to sniff for traces of landmine explosives at its facility. Every year landmines kill or maim thousands of people worldwide. The trained rats sniff for explosive and so are able to detect the presence of landmines far faster than conventional methods which involve metal detection. Metal detection is longer and more laborious because detection equipment picks up all metal traces in the ground including scrap metal. APOPO deploy the trained rats to work in mine affected areas like Cambodia, Lao, Vietnam and Mozambique. To date APOPO has helped countries detect 69,269 landmines which have been destroyed by the countries authorities. Land mine clearance is also crucial to farmers and citizens reclaiming and using land which was previously unavailable due to landmine risk. / AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA

An African giant pouched rat sniff for traces of landmine explosives at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 17, 2016. APOPO trains the rats to detect both tuberculosis and landmines at its facility. Every year landmines kill or maim thousands of people worldwide. The trained rats sniff for explosive and so are able to detect the presence of landmines far faster than conventional methods which involve metal detection. Metal detection is longer and more laborious because detection equipment picks up all metal traces in the ground including scrap metal. APOPO deploy the trained rats to work in mine affected areas like Cambodia, Lao, Vietnam and Mozambique. To date APOPO has helped countries detect 69,269 landmines which have been destroyed by the countries authorities. Land mine clearance is also crucial to farmers and citizens reclaiming and using land which was previously unavailable due to landmine risk. / AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA

A juvenile African giant pouched rat carries a metal tea egg containing traces of TNT, at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 17, 2016. APOPO trains the rats to detect both tuberculosis and landmines at its facility. Every year landmines kill or maim thousands of people worldwide. The trained rats sniff for explosive and so are able to detect the presence of landmines far faster than conventional methods which involve metal detection. Metal detection is longer and more laborious because detection equipment picks up all metal traces in the ground including scrap metal. APOPO deploy the trained rats to work in mine affected areas like Cambodia, Lao, Vietnam and Mozambique. To date APOPO has helped countries detect 69,269 landmines which have been destroyed by the countries authorities. Land mine clearance is also crucial to farmers and citizens reclaiming and using land which was previously unavailable due to landmine risk. / AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA