Biosafety and data quality considerations for animal experiments with highly infectious agents at ABSL-3 facilities.

Animal models are crucial for the study of severe infectious diseases, which is essential for determining their pathogenesis and the development of vaccines and drugs. Animal experiments involving risk grade 3 agents such as SARS CoV, HIV, , H7N9, and Brucella must be conducted in an Animal Biosafety Level 3 (ABSL-3) facility. Because of the work, the biosafety risk in ABSL-3 facilities is higher than that in BSL-3 facilities. Undoubtedly, management practices must be strengthened to ensure biosafety in the ABSL-3 facility. Meanwhile, we cannot ignore the reliable scientific results obtained from animal experiments conducted in ABSL-3 laboratories. It is of great practical significance to study the overall biosafety concepts that can increase the scientific data quality. Based on the management of animal experiments in the ABSL-3 Laboratory of Wuhan University, combined with relevant international and domestic literature, we indicate the main safety issues and factors affecting animal experiment results at ABSL-3 facilities. Based on these issues, management practices regarding animal experiments in ABSL-3 facilities are proposed, which take into account both biosafety and scientifically sound data.