Transcript Animal Health Maintenance

Animal Health Maintenance
LAT Chapter 8
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Chapter 8
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The Daily Link
Chapter 8
• Note subtle changes in animal behavior, physical
appearance, or daily activity.
• Early discovery of an abnormality in an animal may
reduce animal suffering and colony disease problems
and prevent the compromise of an experiment.
• Contagious viral infection a threat in colony animals.
• “Herd Health” management
 Barrier system protection against a serious disease outbreak.
 Any signs of disease, the entire colony may be affected.
 If treatment is expensive or disease extensive, more feasible to
depopulate (euthanize) room or colony and disinfect the facility.
Animal Acquisition
Chapter 8
• Centralized = better price, transport, housing and health.
• Animals requests consider: source, strain, sex, age,
weight, pathogen status, number and transportation.
• Do not change suppliers until study is completed.
• Vendor animal health survey - sample subjected to
diagnostic procedures to determine health status.
• Use correct terminology to describe pathogen status.
• SPF or VAF may mean different things.
• Larger animals screening - worming and vaccination
schedules, health history, and USDA paperwork.
Transportation
Chapter 8
• AWA & USDA standards =
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length of time shipment held prior to departure
minimum and maximum temperature transport facilities
size, ventilation and construction of containers
how many animals may be transported in a cage
air exchange and temperature in the animal cargo space
maximum length of time without food or water
how often checked while in transit
avoiding rough handling
health certificates
• Shipping containers: conventional = cardboard, SPF
and germfree = filtered air vents
• Document shipment conditions in vehicle and condition
of animals on arrival.
Receiving
Chapter 8
• Receiving person must be aware of animals
expected and instructions from the investigator
on how they are to be housed.
• Know orders placed, which vendor, what
ordered, arrival, and purchase ID - required by
federal inspectors.
• Check specifications of order.
• Cage cards and records
• Physical examinations
Taconic (right) and Harlan (left) shipping containers
Receiving (continued)
Chapter 8
• Disinfect containers prior to opening.
• Aseptically remove from containers and place in
decontaminated cages in a pathogen-free area.
• May collect % for diagnostic confirmation of health status.
• Conditioning: > 48 hours required for rodents
 Animals may become immunosuppressed and dehydrated during
shipment. If exposed to a disease, more likely to become ill.
 Better to discover disease in quarantine, than in existing colony.
 Ideal quarantine in separate rooms or isolation cubicles, by vendor
and arrival date or at least be separated by species.
Shipping
Chapter 8
Do This! Link to TAC web site:
Click on any of the items enclosed
by a red outline and an explanation
will pop-up. (Very cool Taconic!)
• Protect from impact, offer ventilation and heat, food and
water and keep animals clean and dry.
• Display address, contact and special instructions.
• Ship early in the week in order to avoid weekend delays.
• Check with state veterinarian or the USDA prior.
 Species of animal determines shipping requirements.
 Shipping of birds and cold-blooded animals = unique problems.
 Size and other animals in the group = # animals housed.
 Different sizes should not be shipped in the same container.
 Age must be considered; very young should not be shipped in a
container with older animals unless they are suckling littermates
with their dam.
Quarantine & Conditioning
Chapter 8
• Quarantine = observed for signs of disease
 For larger animals, includes treatment for internal or external
parasites, tattooing, checking tuberculosis, and treating diseases.
• Conditioning = or the period during which animals are
becoming adjusted to their new environment.
 Work in quarantine only after work with all other healthy animals.
• Negative room air pressure so undesirable
microorganisms pass directly into exhaust system.
• Uniform change commonly required after leaving.
Quality Assurance & Monitoring
Chapter 8
• Health monitoring is to ensure validity of experimental data
• Identify and prevent viral, bacterial, and parasitic diseases.
• Sentinel animal monitoring
 Direct or indirect exposure
 Diagnostic procedures are performed at scheduled intervals.
• Environmental monitoring = changes in the environment
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amount, age, quality, and palatability of food and water
temperature and humidity
ventilation effectiveness
light cycle lengths
noise level
type of bedding material
presence of pheromones and chemical disinfectants
Effects of Disease on Research
Chapter 8
• Mouse Hepatitis Virus (MHV): high mortality in newborn
mice; alters study of the immune system
• Sendai Virus: bronchitis and pneumonia; profound influence on
the immune system
• Mycoplasmosis: highly contagious, progressive, inflammatory
disease; affects respiratory, reproductive & immune systems
• Pasteurellosis: Pasteurella multocida, “snuffles” in rabbits; can
infect respiratory, reproductive system & middle ear
• Oftentimes only way to completely eradicate disease
from a colony is to euthanize entire colony, disinfect
area and start over with new animals. The time and
expense of this kind of drastic procedure can be
disastrous to research programs.
Microbial Status
Chapter 8
• Conventional: under standard conditions, number and
types of microbes are not specifically known
• Specific Pathogen Free (SPF): describes only those
microorganisms they do not contain, term SPF alone
says nothing about which are present
• Gnotobiotic: defined microbial flora
• Axenic: completely free of all detectable
microorganisms and parasites
• Caesarean-Derived or Caesarean-Origin: mammals
delivered by surgical means
• Barrier-Reared or Barrier-Sustained: raised in a
controlled microbial barrier, which prevents the entrance
of pathogenic organisms
Isolator Styles
Chapter 8
Equipment and Supplies
Chapter 8
• Isolator: rigid type - stainless steel or plexiglass &
flexible type - clear plastic film
• Individual Micro-Isolator™: shoebox-type plastic
cages that have a hard plastic lid with a special filter
 Barrier is at the cage level.
 One disadvantage is that air exchange may be reduced.
• Ventilated cage racks: supply HEPA filtered air
 Supply a constant flow of fresh air to the animals, which reduces
ammonia and carbon dioxide levels inside the cage.
 Provide either positive or negative pressure inside the cage/
• Sterilized food, water and bedding done by packaging
food and water in a supply cylinder (unless irradiated)/
• Air is sterilized by passing it through special HEPA
filters.
Ventilated Cage Racks
Chapter 8
Thoren Caging Ventilated Rack
Lab Products Ventilated Rack
Conventional Animals
Chapter 8
• Wear gloves and either a clean lab coat or
clothing worn only inside facility.
• Food and water free from pathogens but not sterile.
• Equipment and cages sanitized to kill pathogens.
• Relatively inexpensive to produce and maintain.
• Research not type that is affected by the microbes or the
minor response variations caused by those microbes.
 Useful in experiments measuring rate drug is absorbed
across skin.
 Not in experiments in which fine differences in immune
system’s response to bacteria are measured.
Specific Pathogen Free
Chapter 8
• Defined by specific microbes they lack.
• Safeguards prevent them from being contaminated.
 Access to the rooms housing these animals is usually restricted.
 Shower before entering and/or wear special clothing.
• Supplies are usually sterilized.
• Common bacteria and viruses may still be in the
environment without affecting SPF status.
• Monitoring includes tests for pathogens the animal should
be free from.
 Investigations of a disease caused by a specific pathogen require
animals free of that disease.
 Research involving diseases known to be influenced by the
presence of specific pathogens.
Gnotobiotic and Axenic
Chapter 8
• Produced by surgically removing young
from mother’s sterile uterus just prior to birth.
• Gnotobiotic animals are associated with bacteria, which
enhance digestion but do not cause disease.
• Food has > amounts of vitamins and other nutrients.
 Vitamins A, C, K, thiamine, and pyroxidine are partially
destroyed by the heat of sterilization process.
• Special nutritional needs, because the bacteria that help
produce vitamins in the intestines normally are missing.
• Sensitive immunological and biochemical studies are
typical of the types of research that require the use of
axenic or gnotobiotic animals.
Additional Reading
Chapter 8
1. Foster, H.L. “Gnotobiology.” In: The Laboratory Rat, Volume II.
Baker, H.L. et al., eds. Academic Press, Orlando, FL, 1980.
2. Small, J.D. “Rodent and Lagomorph Health Surveillance and Quality
Assurance.” In: Laboratory Animal Medicine, Fox, J.G., Cohen, B.J.,
and Loew, F.M., eds. Academic Press, Orlando, FL, 1984.