JAX Raises the Bar on Health Monitoring and Reporting
JAX® NOTES Issue 514, Summer 2009
Animal health expectations of today's biomedical researchers are more rigorous than ever. To keep one step ahead, we have enhanced our health monitoring protocols to better detect the presence of any infectious agents in our Production and Repository rooms. We've also improved our Animal Health Reports to better communicate health monitoring results.
Enhanced Health Monitoring
In 2006, we introduced a systematic program of pooling weanling mice (as many as 60 mice per room were held in groups of 10 for seven weeks) to increase their exposure to monitored agents. The mice were selected randomly within each strain, and all strains in a given room were tested quarterly. The number of mice selected per strain was based on the proportion of mice of a given strain housed in the room. At the end of the exposure period, our Diagnostic Laboratory tested one or more mice from each pool, and the results were indicated on Animal Health Reports. This method ensured that all test results were statistically significant for each strain/colony of JAX® Mice.
Beginning in January 2009, we established the pools every six weeks, and, in May 2009, we began posting results every six weeks rather than quarterly. Thus, in our Production and Repository rooms, we have doubled both the frequency of reporting and the number of mice tested per quarter.
JAX® Mice are the healthiest laboratory mice available.
Clearer Health Reports
One goal of our new health reporting is to provide improved Animal Health Reports that more clearly indicate which agents are excluded and what actions are taken if any are discovered. The improved reports also easily distinguish whether mice originate from JAX® Mice Production or Repository facilities or from our Research Animal Facility (RAF). Distinguishing among these is important because, in most cases, agent exclusion lists and shipping policies in the event of a microbial contamination are somewhat different for research facility rooms than they are for JAX® Mice Production and Repository barriers. Notably, whereas mouse norovirus (MNV) is excluded from all JAX® Mice Production and Repository barriers, it is excluded from elevated RAF barriers only. For example, if MNV were found in a Production or Repository barrier, shipping from that room would stop; if MNV were found in a Research barrier, shipping would not stop, but the occurrence would be noted on the health report for the affected room. Two changes help make the distinction: 1) the reports from RAF barriers bear the title "Research Facility" in white text on a dark background, the reports for Production and Repository facilities are dark text on a light background. 2) JAX® Mice Production and Repository barriers are designated as Maximum, High, and Standard, while RAF barriers are designated as Elevated, Intermediate, and Low (see "Overview of Barrier Levels" on the our website).
Although we monitor for the same agents in all of our Production, Repository, and RAF barriers, our exclusion, shipping, and customer notification policies differ for each. To see which agents we monitor and exclude from each of our barriers, see the JAX® Mice animal health page.
For more information on our animal health program, including current Animal Health Reports, visit out website or call 1-800-422-6423, 1-207-288-5845, or email: jaxservices@jax.org.
