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Companion Guide to Infectious Diseases of Mice and Rats (1991) / Chapter Skim
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Part I: Principles of Rodent Disease Prevention
Pages 1-8

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From page 1...
... Bacterial opportunists and commensals, which are constitutents of the normal flora on mucosal and body surfaces, are ubiquitous infections that usually cause disease only when their hosts are immunosuppressed (Dubos et al., 1965; Savage, 1971~. The viral and parasite pathogens of rodents vary considerably in pathogenicity.
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From page 2...
... (Lindsey et al., 1986~. COMMITMENT TO MAINTAINING PATHOGEN-FREE STATUS OF RODENTS Past experience demonstrates that maintaining rodents in the pathogen-free state requires adherence to breeding, transportation, and maintenance programs specifically designed for the exclusion of pathogens.
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From page 3...
... Health surveillance programs are systematic laboratory investigations that employ batteries of diagnostic tests for the purpose of defining the pathogen and health status of an animal population. These programs are crucially important in rodent disease prevention because they provide data, which are the only reliable basis for determining rodent pathogen status or providing health quality assurance.
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From page 4...
... Although originally developed as a method for broadly screening mouse tissues for viruses, it can be used to test transplantable tumors, hybridomas, cell lines, and other biologic materials for contamination by infectious agents. An equivalent test, the rat antibody production (RAP)
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From page 5...
... Although the sample size required to detect a single agent can be determined with reasonable precision, it is virtually impossible to maintain the same degree of precision for all agents to be included in a large test battery. Different agents typically have very different infection rates within rodent colonies.
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From page 6...
... For example, if the greatest risks are deemed to be from mouse hepatitis virus and Sendai virus, tests for these agents could be performed monthly, and a larger battery could be done biannually. Sentinel Animals Sentinel rodents are sometimes introduced into a rodent population, housed in open cages placed systematically throughout the colony, and used periodically for testing.
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From page 7...
... Pp. 45-60 in The Importance of Laboratory Animal Genetics, Health and the Environment in Biomedical Research, E
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From page 8...
... A report of the Board on Basic Biology, Committee on Models for Biomedical Research. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
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Key Terms

  • laboratory animal
  • surveillance programs
  • disease prevention
  • diagnostic laboratories
  • infectious diseases

  • rodent disease
  • principal population
  • pathogen status
  • assumed infection
  • laboratory animals

  • infection rate
  • antibody production
  • animal resources
  • test battery
  • animal quality

  • detecting infection
  • rodent diagnostic
  • mouse antibody
  • pathogen free
  • rodent population

  • acid hybridization
  • designing health
  • scientific method
  • biologic materials
  • serologic tests

  • serologic testing
  • individual programs
  • sendai virus
  • scientific objectives
  • specifically designed


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