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Cyagen Transgenic Animal Center Animal Health Monitoring Program

Mouse and rat colonies at Cyagen Transgenic Animal Center (CTAC) are housed in AAALAC-accredited SPF barrier facilities. They are monitored for a range of pathogens using sentinel animals on a quarterly basis, and more frequently when needed. Sentinel animals are maximally exposed to all other animals in the barrier by soiled bedding transfer. Each sentinel cage contains multiple sentinel animals, of which soiled bedding comes from different cages in the colonies. After six weeks, sentinel animals are tested for bacterial, viral and parasitic pathogens. Each sentinel cage typically monitors 50~100 cages. Direct contact method is also used for testing pathogens that are spread through secretion in a small space. In this method, some experimental animals are selected to be housed in the same cage as the sentinel animals for an extended period of time before the sentinel animals are used for pathogen testing. Finally, a subset of the experimental animals are randomly selected for direct testing. Tests are conducted by a number of reputable test providers including Charles River Laboratories (CRL), Vital River Laboratories (which is CRL’s China Branch), IDEXX Laboratories, and Guangdong Experimental Animal Testing Center.

The table below lists excluded pathogens for CTAC’s mouse and rat colonies.

Excluded Pathogens Mouse Rat
Virology Ectromelia virus (ECTV) SEO (Hantavirus) (HV)
Rotavirus (EDIM) Mouse adenovirus 1 & 2 (MAV)
Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) Sialodacryoadenitis Virus (SDAV)
Minute virus of mice (MVM) Pneumonia virus of mice (PVM)
Mouse parvovirus (MPV) Reovirus type III (Reo-3)
Mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) Sendai virus (SV)
Mouse adenovirus 1 & 2 (MAV) Theiler's-like Virus of Rats (RTV)
Mouse norovirus (MNV) Rat parvovirus (RPV)
Pneumonia virus of mice (PVM) Polyoma virus (POLY)
Reovirus type III (Reo-3) Rat coronavirus (RCV)
Sendai virus (SV)
Theiler's mouse encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV)
Polyoma virus (POLY)
Mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV)
Hantaan (HANT)
Hantaan (HANT)
Mouse thymic virus (MTV)
K virus
Microbiology Corynebacterium kutscheri Corynebacterium kutscheri
Corynebacterium bovis Clostridium piliforme
Clostridium piliforme Campylobacter genus
CAR bacillus CAR bacillus
Citrobacter rodentium Citrobacter rodentium
Klebsiella oxytoca Klebsiella oxytoca
Klebsiella pneumoniae Mycoplasma pulmonis
Mycoplasma pulmonis Pasteurella pneumotropica-Heyl
Pasteurella pneumotropica-Heyl Pasteurella pneumotropica-Jawetz
Pasteurella pneumotropica-Jawetz Salmonella genus
Salmonella genus Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus aureus Streptococcus pnemoniae
Streptococcus pneumoniae Streptobacillus moniliformis
Streptobacillus moniliformis Beta strep. sp. - Grp A
Beta strep. sp. - Grp A Beta strep. sp. - Grp B
Beta strep. sp. - Grp B Beta strep. sp. - Grp C
Beta strep. sp. - Grp C Beta strep. sp. - Grp G
Beta strep. sp. - Grp G Bordetella bronchiseptica
Bordetella bronchiseptica Helicobacter genus.
Helicobacter genus.
Pasteurella multocida
Parasitology Cryptosporidium Cryptosporidium
Pinworms Pinworm
Furmites Mite
Giardia Giardia
Spironucleus muris Spironucleus muris
Pneumocystis murina Tritrichomonas genus
Tritrichomonas genus Entamoeba
Encephalitozoon cuniculi (ECUN)