Carolina is a giant rat who has saved thousands of lives.
After 7 years of service, Carolina, a trained African giant pouched rat, has officially retired from her role detecting tuberculosis in East Africa.
Working with the nonprofit APOPO, she sniffed out over 3,000 TB cases that were missed by traditional tests, potentially preventing more than 400,000 new infections.
Her superpower? A sense of smell so sharp she could check 100 samples in just 20 minutes—something that would take a human technician days to do.
Her retirement was marked with a celebration at the clinic, complete with cake!
Carolina’s story is a powerful reminder that heroes come in all shapes and sizes.
Thank you, Carolina, for your sniffs of service.
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