[Procedures for health monitoring in a breeding facility for specific pathogen free mice and rats]

Causes of variation in animal experiments include differences in the genotype of the animals as well as a number of environmental factors. Through standardisation of the physical, chemical and biological components of the environment the quality of the results of the experiments can be improved, which in turn leads to a reduction of the number of animals used. One of the means to achieve this goal is the use of specified pathogen free (SPF) animals. To assure the microbiological quality of these animals the population and its environment needs to be screened thoroughly on a routine basis. This publication describes the necessary quality assurance procedures. These include bacteriological, parasitological, virological and histological examinations of the animals themselves, as well as environmental screens such as microbiological examinations of feed, control of water quality or the testing of the efficacy of disinfectants.