Animal health assurance.

A program to assure the health of laboratory animals and to provide a stable environment for their maintenance is necessary to reduce unwanted variables or complicating factors in experimentation. To assure animal health throughout a research study, the animals involved should be procured in good health, monitored for continued health status, and protected from pathogenic organisms through testing of any biological materials. This unit addresses all three of these health management practices. Essential in support of these practices is a diagnostic laboratory capable of testing for rodent and rabbit pathogens.