Micro- and Macroenvironmental Conditions and Stability of Terrestrial Models.

Environmental variables can have profound effects on the biological responses of research animals and the outcomes of experiments dependent on them. Some of these influences are both predictable and unpredictable in effect, many are challenging to standardize, and all are influenced by the planning and conduct of experiments and the design and operation of the vivarium. Others are not yet known.

Survey of laboratory animal technicians in the United States for Coxiella burnetii antibodies and exploration of risk factors for exposure.

Little is known about the prevalence of zoonotic infections among laboratory animal care technicians (LAT). Q fever, a disease caused by Coxiella burnetii, is a known occupational hazard for persons caring for livestock. We sought to determine the seroprevalence of C.

Diet replenishment for ad-libitum-fed mice housed in social groups is compatible with shelf life.

Regulatory guidelines and best practices in the care of research animals allow diets milled for laboratory animals to be used within 180 d of formulation but otherwise permit latitude and professional judgment in how and when feed is offered. As such, practices at some research institutions allow for the replenishment ('topping up') of fresh chow over that existing in the cage food hopper, rather than complete replacement of the diet on a regular basis. To determine the depletion rate of a pelleted diet as fed from a conventional overhead food hopper, the consumption of full hoppers of food was measured for breeding pairs of mice in production and gender-specific groups of weanlings and juvenile mice kept in ventilated cages at 71.

Investigation of appropriate sanitization frequency for rodent caging accessories: evidence supporting less-frequent cleaning.

The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals states that sanitization of caging accessories (for example, filter tops and wire-bar lids) should be done every 2 wk. In this study we tested the hypothesis that organic contamination measured by the presence of ATP associated with organic material (measured with luciferase test swabs) and the number of bacterial colony-forming units (as determined by use of replicate organism detection and counting plates) on caging accessories did not differ significantly at 2 wk versus several months of use. The study evaluated 4 groups: mouse and rat ventilated and static wire-bar cages with or without filter tops (n = 10 per group).

Job dynamics of veterinary professionals in an academic research institution. II. Veterinary technician attendance, absenteeism, and pay distribution.

To understand and better manage attendance and overtime for a team of veterinary technicians, a retrospective analysis of the attendance and time card records was done over a 2-y period. The findings show that veterinary technicians were in the workplace for a combination of straight time and overtime hours for approximately 89% of all compensated hours. The remainder of paid compensation was for vacation (4%), holidays (4%), and sick leave (3%).

Job dynamics of veterinary professionals in an academic research institution. I. Retention and turnover of veterinary technicians.

The turnover of veterinary technicians within an animal resources program averaged 33% annually over 18 y, peaking at 67% in 1998 to 1999. Insufficient retention of veterinary technicians led to diversion of veterinarian effort to technical tasks and to increased allocation of administrative resources for supervising and managing an expanding team of veterinary technicians. To identify factors and trends related to poor retention, address any causes, and reduce turnover, a retrospective analysis of employment records was done.

Ketamine-xylazine-acepromazine anesthesia and postoperative recovery in rats.

We evaluated the effect of ketamine-xylazine-acepromazine anesthesia (31.25, 6.25, and 1.

Cross-fostering in combination with ivermectin therapy: a method to eradicate murine fur mites.

A colony of mutant mice with sickle cell anemia was infested with the fur mites Myocoptes musculinus and Myobia musculi. Pups of sickle-cell phenotype obtained by cesarean section prior to natural birth were of such poor vigor that none survived the combined insults of delivery by hysterectomy and cross-fostering. Consequently, surgical rederivation, the most reliable means of mite eradication, was not an option.

A single dose of topical moxidectin as an effective treatment for murine acariasis due to Myocoptes musculinus.

Murine fur mites are reported to exist in over one-third of research institutions and can be problematic to eliminate. Current treatment strategies can be labor-intensive, toxic, and may confound research studies. The ideal method would be technically simple, safe, effective, and relatively inexpensive.

Rodent vendor apparent source of mouse parvovirus in sentinel mice.

Mouse parvovirus (MPV) has been increasingly prevalent in laboratory animal facilities, and the source of infection often can be difficult to determine. After 4 years of sporadic MPV detected in our sentinel mice and continual failure to identify index cases in colony mice, we developed a regimen to house newly arrived vendor mice in large sterile cages with a high stocking density. Some of these mice were retained in isolation after the remaining mice were deployed as sentinels.

Long-term results of dietary fenbendazole to eradicate Syphacia muris from rat colonies.

The pinworm Syphacia muris was eradicated from rats after treatment with fenbendazole-medicated chow (150 ppm) and without environmental decontamination for > 54 months. However, this regimen was successful only when the treatment was delivered and efficacy monitoring was done by personnel of the institutional animal resources program. The same pinworm elimination program failed 7 to 24 months after the cessation of treatment in a satellite colony in which animal care, including provision of medicated diet and sample collection for efficacy monitoring, was provided by research personnel.

Confirmed persistent mouse hepatitis virus infection and transmission by mice with a targeted null mutation of tumor necrosis factor to sentinel mice, using short-term exposure.

Mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) infection in immunocompetent mice is typically self limiting, and transmission is short lived. With the recent surge in the development of genetically engineered mutant mice with alterations in immune system components, however, MHV clearance may be disrupted. We report confirmed persistent transmission of MHV from tumor necrosis factor (TNF) knockout mice, B6.

Failed air supply to individually ventilated caging system causes acute hypoxia and mortality of rats.

Greater than 30% mortality was observed unexpectedly in rat pups of weaning age kept with their dams in individually ventilated cages (IVC). A subsequent controlled study involving an induced electrical power failure that halted ventilation of IVC containing rat dams and pups showed that oxygen concentrations in the air in individual cages were rapidly depleted to less than 10% in 1 h. In a separate incident during which electrical power to IVC was inadvertently disconnected, rats died within 60 min of loss of power to IVC.

Alcohol as a disinfectant for aseptic surgery of rodents: crossing the thin blue line?

Recently, the use of alcohol (i.e., ethanol or isopropanol) has been discouraged as disinfectants for survival surgical procedures for rats and mice because of perceptions of inadequacy of killing of bacterial spores and lack of efficacy in the presence of organic debris.