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JANUARY 2011
In this first edition of the New Year:
A Hero-Sized WELCOME and THANK YOU
Plans for 2011
APOPO’s 2009 findings published in the American Journal of
Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
APOPO’s research in New York Times and on the radio
Say “I Love You” with a HeroRAT!

A Hero-Sized WELCOME and THANK YOU

The HeroRAT team warmly welcomes all of our newfound friends
and supporters who came on-board throughout 2010. We are
lucky to have an ever-expanding community of amazing individuals
who are as committed and passionate as we are about the life-
saving work of our HeroRATs.

We are most grateful to those of you who continue to share our

work with your friends, family or colleagues – you are helping us to
change people’s somewhat negative perceptions of rats! If you
haven’t already joined the HeroRAT network, feel free to connect
with us via Facebook and Twitter to ask questions, see the latest
images from HeroRAT headquarters, and keep up to date with all
the latest hero-happenings.

We also want to extend a very special thank you to all of our

wonderful supporters who made this holiday season the best one in
APOPO’s history! Our HeroRATs were quite the popular gift this
year, with 436 new adoptions throughout the month of December.
Not to worry, we have spoken with Chosen One, Kim, Tyson, and
Ziko, and they are all up to the challenge of making their adoptive
parents proud!

Thanks to our record number of generous donors and adopters

over the holidays, it looks as though 2011 is going to be a massive
year for APOPO’s HeroRATs!

Plans for 2011

APOPO is setting our sights high with some big goals for our
HeroRAT teams in 2011.

In Mozambique, thanks to ongoing support from generous donors

around the world, we will continue to stay on track to complete our
demining operations in the Gaza Province ahead of the 2014
deadline.

APOPO continues its effort to establish mine action programmes in

Angola and Thailand. Angola is one of the most mine-affected
countries in the world and we aim to work with a potential partner
organization and to send HeroRAT teams to the Moxico province in
2011. This province is the most mine-affected province in Angola.
In Thailand, APOPO has started preparations for a non-technical
survey of two mine-affected provinces along the Cambodian
border. The project is undertaken in close cooperation with
Thailand Mine Action Centre (TMAC). The survey will provide a
more realistic picture of the real mine problem and will help to focus
future mine action efforts in areas that are actually mined while
returning areas that prove mine free to the local population.
However, these two expansions into Angola and Thailand are
subject to available funding.

In addition to the daily sniffing activities of our Tuberculosis (TB)

detection HeroRAT team in Tanzania, we will also be busy
preparing our case findings for future publication in 2011. New
research experiments have already begun, with the aim of further
validating and optimizing our HeroRATs as a diagnostic method. In
one experiment, our HeroRATs have been sniffing prepared
microscope slides of sputum samples – rather than the sample
pots we receive initially from collaborating DOTS Centers – and so
far, the results are encouraging.

Our Remote Scent Tracing (RST) research will be taking on

groundbreaking new applications in 2011. RST involves taking a
sample of air, soil, or other compound, and bringing it to a remote
location for evaluation by our trained sniffer rats. Pending funding,
APOPO hopes to begin feasibility studies on the rats’ abilities to
detect multiple explosives and salmonella as soon as possible.

APOPO’s 2009 findings published in the American

Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
APOPO’s most recent tuberculosis journal article, led by Dr. Alan
Poling entitled “Using Giant African Pouched Rats to Detect
Tuberculosis in Human Sputum Samples: 2009 Findings” was
published in the December edition of the American Journal of
Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The study presents our results
from 2009 using our Gambian pouched rats (affectionately known
as HeroRATs) to sniff for mycobacterium tuberculosis in human
sputum samples. That year, out of 10,523 total patients, our rats
found an additional 620 TB-positive patients that were previously
misdiagnosed as ‘TB-negative’ by the local DOTS centers using
smear microscopy. Thanks to our rats’ identification of these
additional patients, the study found that our rats truly are heroes,
having increased detection rates in our partnering DOTS centers
by 44% in 2009.

Karen Hopkin also presents a summary of the results from this

study in her 60-Second Science podcast on the Scientific
American website. Click here to listen!

To date, including data from 2010, APOPO’s HeroRATs have found

over 1,600 TB-positive patients that initial smear microscopy
missed. According to estimates from the World Health
Organization, this has helped prevent the spread of TB to over
16,000 healthy people.

We look forward to future success and publications about the great

achievements of our Tuberculosis detection HeroRATs and their
equally hard-working human colleagues.

APOPO’s research in New York Times and on the

radio
This month, APOPO appeared for a third time in the widely
distributed New York Times newspaper. APOPO’s Behavioral
Researcher, Dr. Alan Poling, was interviewed for the January 3rd
article, “Detecting Tuberculosis: No Microscopes, Just Rats”. The
article reported on APOPO’s findings from the above-mentioned
study, led by Dr. Poling, which were published in the December
issue of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

In the article, Dr. Poling expressed one of our hopes for the future:
“We think that eventually there will be a place for them [HeroRATs]
in first-line screening.” Currently, our TB-detection HeroRATs
provide second-line screening: they evaluate the sputum samples
after they have been checked under microscopy at the hospitals.
However, our rats find 5 – 15 patients on a weekly basis who have
been missed by first-round screening. We believe our furry
colleagues are up to the challenge of proving their TB-sniffing
capabilities, and hope that HeroRATs will someday become a go-
to resource for efficient and effective TB diagnosis.

Dr. Poling was also interviewed by WMUK, a public radio program

in Michigan, USA, to talk about APOPO and our HeroRATs. In the
seven-minute news segment, Dr. Poling discussed the landmine
and tuberculosis problems in sub-Saharan Africa and how APOPO
trains our HeroRATs to help solve these problems. To listen to Dr.
Poling’s interview, please click here.

Say “I Love You” with a HeroRAT!

Tired of giving chocolates and roses for Valentine’s Day? Shake
things up this year and show your love by making the world a safer
place for your loved one to live in: give the gift of a HeroRAT
adoption!

Our HeroRATs are more adorable than any teddy bear, they live
longer than roses, AND they are helping to save lives and limbs in
Tanzania and Mozambique.

Your loved one will receive a personalized email announcing the gift
from you, along with an adoption certificate and letter from his/her
adopted hero as well as updates throughout the year. To give the
most unexpected gift this Valentine’s Day, please visit our Adopt-A-
Rat page.

Thanks for your support, and we wish all of you an inspiring and
rewarding year ahead!

Warm regards,

The HeroRAT team

www.herorat.org
http://www.facebook.com/heroRAT
http://twitter.com/HeroRATs

APO PO -SUA, PO Box 3078, Morogoro, Tanzania

HeroRAT is a cam paign of APO PO

For m ore inform ation please see www.herorat.org or contact us at herorats@herorat.org

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