The research animal and the significance of a health monitoring program.

The criteria for the selection of stocks and strains of laboratory animals were discussed. These include metabolic and environmental factors as well as the presence or introduction of infectious agents. The investigator is now concerned with his experimental animals from conception to death, not just during an experiment. The basis of a health monitoring program to ascertain the health status of incoming animals, to evaluate the status of the environment, and to document the ongoing status of an animal colony was outlined. The facilities of the Yale School of Medicine animal research space were detailed.