Colony Health Monitoring Program

The primary objective of the Colony Health Monitoring (CHM) Program is to monitor colonies for the presence of agents that would compromise the "Specific Pathogen Free" (SPF) status so that appropriate management steps can be taken should they be found.

Rodent Colony Health monitoring & Maintenance

Background

Emory University has been continuously accredited by AAALAC international since 1992. Rodents entering into colonies maintained at Emory University Division of Animal Resources DAR may originate from one of three sources:

Rodents are verified to be free from a defined set of adventitious pathogens upon entry into a colony, and policies are in place to help maintain this ‘Specific Pathogen Free’ (SPF) status. The primary objective of the health monitoring program is to monitor colonies for the presence of agents that would compromise the SPF status so that appropriate management steps can be taken should they be found.

Primary Rodent Housing Locations
High-Level SPF Facilities
Health Sciences Research Building 1 (HSRB-1)
Conventional SPF Facilities
Health Sciences Research Building 2 (HSRB-2)
Whitehead Biomedical Research Building (WBRB)
O. Wayne Rollins Research Building (RRB)
Woodruff Memorial Research Building (WMRB)
Pediatrics Facility (Peds)
Clinic B 3rd Floor (B-3rd)
Clinic B Tunnel Level (B-Tun)

General Husbandry Practices for Rodents in DAR

Rodent housing rooms, except under special conditions, are under negative relative air pressure with respect to adjacent corridors. Colony animal cage bottoms are changed out weekly on static microisolator cages and every two weeks on ventilated cage systems. Corncob bedding and a cotton fiber nest material are the default for most mouse strains, with exceptions for specific strains or based on IACUC protocol requirements. Rodents are fed irradiated diets and water sanitation varies depending on the building. Water bottles, if present, are replaced weekly and food is added during each cage change. Wire bar lids and food hoppers are replaced when visibly soiled, when a cage is depopulated, or at least every 6 months. Sterile housing is available for mice which includes an autoclaved water bottle and a complete autoclaved cage change weekly.

Rats may be housed in solid bottom cages without filter tops, in static filter top cages, in ventilated caging systems, or in suspended stainless-steel cages. Cages, food, water and bedding for immunocompetent rats typically are not autoclaved prior to use, but cages are sanitized at 180°F. Personnel entering rooms must wear dedicated gowns and gloves when handling rats and use a DAR approved disinfectant in the animal facility.

Rodent Colony Health Reports

A customized rodent colony health report can be requested online through DAR Quality Assurance and Diagnostic Laboratory here: Emory Rodent Colony Health History Request. Requested reports will be provided to the requestor within 48 hours during business hours.

Biological Materials Screening Policy

All biological materials administered to rodents in Emory colonies must be screened for adventitious pathogens in accordance with DAR policy, which can be viewed here: Biological Materials Screening Policy

Rodent Colony Health Surveillance Program Overview

Live animals are no longer used for health surveillance in the DAR rodent colonies. One empty sanitized and autoclaved colony cage is placed on each side of every populated ventilated rack and one cage per static rack for an average testing ration of 1:70. During cage change, dirty bedding is transferred from populated colony cages to the empty health surveillance cage located on the rack. No more than 14 cages are sampled per cage change. Dirty bedding transfer is continued for 3 months (90 days). Colony health monitoring cages are then collected from their housing rooms and are replaced with a new cage to continue monitoring. Collected colony monitoring cages are then processed for testing by collecting two sample types: pathogen binder media and fecal pellets. These samples are pooled at the room and health status level accordingly and submitted to third-party commercial laboratories for PCR diagnostic analysis. Conventional SPF housing locations are minimally tested for the agents and at the frequency shown in Tables 1, 4 and 5 (mice, rats, gerbils, and spiny mice respectively). The additional agents monitored, and frequency tested in high-level SPF and high-level sterile SPF rooms are shown in Tables 2 and 3. Note that some buildings have specialized rooms that necessitate testing in addition to that shown in the tables, and health reports for those rooms will indicate any additional agents monitored. Please request a health report for further details.

**Table 1.** Agents monitored in **conventional** **SPFmouse** housing.
Organism	Organism Type	Test Method	Frequency	Status
Mouse Poxvirus (Ectromelia)	Virus	PCR	Annually	Excluded
K Virus (K)	Virus	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Pneumonia virus of mice (PVM)	Virus	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Reovirus (REO)	Virus	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Mouse Thymic Virus (MTLV)	Virus	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Sendai Virus (SEND)	Virus	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Mouse adenovirus (MAV 1&2)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Lactic Dehydrogenase Elevating Virus (LDV)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Mouse Hepatitis Virus (MHV)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Mouse Minute Virus (MVM)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Mouse Parvovirus (MPV-1)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Mouse Parvovirus (MPV-2)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (GDVII/TMEV)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Mouse Rotavirus-A (EDIM or MRV)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis (LCMV)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Polyoma Virus (POLY)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Corynebacterium bovis (C. bovis)	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Varies*
Filobacterium rodentium (CAR Bacillus)	Bacteria	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Mycoplasma pulmonis (MPUL)	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Encephalitozoon cuniculi (E. cuniculi)	Fungi	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Pinworms (Aspiculuris, Syphacia)	Parasite	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Murine Fur Mite (Myobia, Myocoptes, Radfordia)	Parasite	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded

**Table 2.** Status for **high-level** **SPF mouse** housing: Status same as listed in Table 1 unless specified below.
Organism	Organism Type	Test Method	Frequency	Status
Mouse norovirus (MNV)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Bordetella bronchiseptica	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Citrobacter rodentium	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Corynebacterium bovis (C. bovis)	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Corynebacterium kutscheri	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Salmonella spp.	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Streptobacillus moniliformis	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Helicobacter spp.	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Encephalitozoon cuniculi (E. cuniculi)	Fungi	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Tritrichomonas spp.	Protozoa	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded

**Table 3.** Status for **high-level** **SPF Sterile mouse** housing: Status same as listed in Tables 1&2 unless specified below.
Organism	Organism Type	Test Method	Frequency	Status
Klebsiella pneumoniae	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Klebsiella oxytoca	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Rodentibacter pneumotropicus/ Rodentibacter heylii	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Pseudomonas aeruginosa	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Staphylococcus aureus	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Streptococcus pneumoniae	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Beta-hemolytic Streptococcus spp. (A, B, C, G)	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Corynebacterium bovis (C. bovis)	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Pneumocystis murina	Fungi	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded

**Table 4.** Agents monitored in **conventional** **SPF rat** housing.
Organism	Organism Type	Test Method	Frequency	Status
Murine Orthopneumovirus (PVM)	Virus	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Sialodacryoadenitis Virus (SDAV)	Virus	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Rat Theilovirus (RTV)	Virus	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Mouse Adenovirus 1 (MAdV-1)	Virus	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Mouse Adenovirus 2 (MAdV-2)	Virus	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Reovirus (REO-3)	Virus	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Sendai Virus (SV)	Virus	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Rat polyoma virus 2 (RatPyV2)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Varies*
Rat Parvovirus (RPV)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Rat Minute Virus (RMV)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Kilham's Rat Virus (KRV)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Toolan's H-1 Virus (H-1)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Mycoplasma pulmonis	Bacteria	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Filobacterium rodentium (CAR Bacillus)	Bacteria	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Streptobacillus moniliformis	Bacteria	PCR	Annually	Excluded
Pneumocystis spp.	Fungi	PCR	Quarterly	Varies*
Fur Mites (Myobia, Mycoptes, Radfordia)	Parasite	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Pinworms (Aspicularis, Syphacia)	Parasite	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded

**Table 5.** Agents monitored in **conventional** **SPF spiny mice & gerbil** housing.
Organism	Organism Type	Test Method	Frequency	Status
Hantavirus Hantaan (HANT)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis (LCMV)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Mouse Hepatitis Virus (MHV)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Mouse Rotavirus-A (EDIM or MRV)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Parainfluenza virus 3 (PIV-3) PC	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Polyoma Virus (POLY)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Pneumonia virus of mice (PVM)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Reovirus (REO)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Sendai Virus (SEND)	Virus	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Beta Strep Grp A	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Beta Strep Grp B	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Beta Strep Grp C	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Beta Strep Grp G	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
B. bronchiseptica	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
C. piliforme	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
C. kutscheri	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
K. oxytoca	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
K. pneumoniae	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
P. multocida	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Ps. aeruginosa	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
R. heylii	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
R. pneumotropicus	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Salmonella Genus	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
S. aureus	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
S. pneumoniae	Bacteria	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Cryptosporidium	Protozoa	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Entamoeba Spp.	Protozoa	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Giardia	Protozoa	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Spironucleus muris	Protozoa	PCR	Quarterly	Monitored
Fur Mite	Parasite	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded
Pinworm	Parasite	PCR	Quarterly	Excluded

Notes:

MNV is assumed to be endemic in the general population

*C. Bovis, Pneumocystis spp., and Rat polyoma virus 2 (RatPyV2) are monitored in sterile populations.

Definitions:

Excluded:Actions are taken if a positive result is found. Actions include researcher notification, room quarantine and additional testing of colony animals to confirm the positive and its source. The specific processes depend on the agent and circumstance.

Monitored: No definitive action is taken if a positive is noted.

Varies: Agent is either excluded or monitored based on the status of the room.

Updated: 7/24/2024