[Rearing and management of chimpanzees for experimental infection with hepatitis B virus (author's transl)]

For the purpose of experimental infection with human hepatitis B virus, 14 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) were delivered to the Division of Animal Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo. These chimps, 11 males and 3 females, born in the West Africa, had been reared for two to six months. Several days after delivery, they were anesthetized with Ketalar in order to make clinical, bacteriological and parasitological examinations; It was found that one of them was in malnutrition, and that another had dislocation of the shoulder joint and the associating abscess. All of them were negative for tuberculin test. In the bacteriological examination, Shigella sonnei was detected in the feces from one of them. Mycoplasma sp. was detected in the materials from the oral cavity of four head. As intestinal parasites, Ascaris sp. were detected in two head, Enterobius vermicularis in eight, Strongloides sp. in two, Oesophagostomum sp. in nine, tape worms in four, and Entamoeba coli in twelve. Microfilaria as blood parasite was detected in 11 of them. The laboratory used for the experimental infection was a room occupying about 42 m2, which had been built by renovating a part of our division building. Each of the cages used for rearing the chimps was contained in the isolation box made of stainless steel. The contaminated air in the isolation box was discharged forcedly into the exhausting duct with a fan, and further passed through the HEPA filter and the Miraceram honeycomb heater, and was then conducted to the already existing ventilation duct of the division building. Each chimp was fed on a ration of 200-350 g of the imported "Purina Monkey Chow 25" and also one grapefruit and one banana daily for the supply of vitamin C. The chimps weighed 16.1 kg on the average on delivery, but gained an average weight of 4.2 kg during the following four months.