Mähler Convenor M, Berard M, Feinstein R, Gallagher A, Illgen-Wilcke B, Pritchett-Corning K, Raspa M
GV-SOLAS, Gesellschaft für Versuchstierkunde BioDoc, Hannover, Germany
AFSTAL, Association Française des Sciences et Techniques de l'Animal de Laboratoire Animalerie Centrale, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Lab Anim. 2014 Jul;48(3):178-192. doi: 10.1177/0023677213516312. Epub 2014 Feb 4.
The microbiological quality of experimental animals can critically influence animal welfare and the validity and reproducibility of research data. It is therefore important for breeding and experimental facilities to establish a laboratory animal health monitoring (HM) programme as an integrated part of any quality assurance system. FELASA has published recommendations for the HM of rodent and rabbit colonies in breeding and experimental units (Nicklas et al. Laboratory Animals, 2002), with the intention of harmonizing HM programmes. As stated in the preamble, these recommendations need to be adapted periodically to meet current developments in laboratory animal medicine. Accordingly, previous recommendations have been revised and shall be replaced by the present recommendations. These recommendations are aimed at all breeders and users of laboratory mice, rats, Syrian hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits as well as diagnostic laboratories. They describe essential aspects of HM, such as the choice of agents, selection of animals and tissues for testing, frequency of sampling, commonly used test methods, interpretation of results and HM reporting. Compared with previous recommendations, more emphasis is put on the role of a person with sufficient understanding of the principles of HM, opportunistic agents, the use of sentinel animals (particularly under conditions of cage-level containment) and the interpretation and reporting of HM results. Relevant agents, testing frequencies and literature references are updated. Supplementary information on specific agents and the number of animals to be monitored and an example of a HM programme description is provided in the appendices.
实验动物的微生物质量会对动物福利以及研究数据的有效性和可重复性产生重大影响。因此，对于繁殖和实验设施而言，建立实验室动物健康监测（HM）计划作为任何质量保证体系的一个组成部分至关重要。欧洲实验动物科学协会（FELASA）已发布关于繁殖和实验单位啮齿动物和兔群健康监测的建议（Nicklas等人，《实验动物》，2002年），目的是统一健康监测计划。如前言所述，这些建议需要定期修订以跟上实验动物医学的当前发展。因此，先前的建议已被修订，应由本建议取而代之。这些建议针对所有实验室小鼠、大鼠、叙利亚仓鼠、豚鼠和兔的饲养者和使用者以及诊断实验室。它们描述了健康监测的基本方面，如病原体的选择、用于检测的动物和组织的选择、采样频率、常用检测方法、结果解释和健康监测报告。与先前的建议相比，更加强调了对健康监测原则、机会性病原体、哨兵动物的使用（特别是在笼级隔离条件下）以及健康监测结果的解释和报告有充分理解的人员的作用。相关病原体、检测频率和文献参考已更新。附录中提供了关于特定病原体和待监测动物数量的补充信息以及健康监测计划描述的示例。
