Ordering Animals
Obtaining Rodents from Other Than Usual Commercial Sources:
- The ARP will need a completed Animal Order Form regardless of the purchase agreement.
- Principal Investigators should review information [link] on obtaining a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA). Principal Investigators must contact Industrial Relations, x6-9359, with questions regarding the MTA. Industrial Relations will forward their decision to the ARP prior to arrangement of shipment.
- Before animals can be shipped, the ARP must have a current health report from the facility of origin. Results must be dated within 3 months of shipping and received by the ARP at least 1 week prior to arrival.
Tests must include:
for mice: MHV, M. pulmonis, MVM, MPV, PVM, Sendai, GDVII, EDIM, LCMV, endo and ectoparasites; (also poxvirus if from a foreign source)
for rats: CAR bacillus, H-1, KRV, M. pulmonis, RPV, PVM, RCV/SDA, Sendai, LCMV, Reo, endo and ectoparasitesThe ARP will not accept MHV(+) mice or M. pulmonis(+) rats/mice unless the population is small, non-breeding, and to be housed for a short duration.
- All accepted animals must undergo Phase I quarantine and Phase II secondary testing periods before admission into the NRC Barrier or the A-1 Barrier Facilities. There are no exceptions.
Phase I: Animals must undergo a six-week minimum quarantine period. No manipulation or breeding of animals will occur during Phase I quarantine. Following 28 days, samples will be collected for serologic testing, gross and histopathologic examination looking for disease due to rodent pathogens. Samples may be collected by the ARP from either the animals procured or sentinels housed on soiled bedding. The receiving investigator will be charged for diagnostic tests performed during quarantine.
Phase II: Following release from Phase I quarantine, animals will be moved to interim housing for secondary testing and housed in micro-isolator cages. During this time, experimental procedures can be performed, but procedures are limited to breeding, DNA or RNA sample collection (i.e. tail snip), and other minor procedures that can be performed within the room. No animals are allowed to leave a Phase II room. A second negative test result for specific rodent pathogens and parasites will release the population for Barrier Facility housing.
- Principal Investigators maintaining rodent breeding colonies will be responsible for: colony record-keeping and individual identification (i.e. ear punch, JD chipping); pairing and separating breeding pairs; checking for vaginal plugs in breeding females; separation of weanling animals by gender and when overcrowded; and performing tail snips for genetic analysis
- Standardized Nomenclature for Transgenic Animals: In 1992, the Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources (ILAR) of the National Research Council’s Commission on Life Sciences recognized deficiencies in nomenclature used to identify transgenic rodents. Their report provides rules for nomenclature.
Download a copy of the 1992 report here.
Rules for Nomenclature of Mouse and Rat Strains: 2001, the International Committee on Standardized Nomenclature for Mice and the Rat Genome and Nomenclature Committee agreed to establish a joint set of rules for strain nomenclature, applicable to strains of both species. These rewritten guidelines reflect this collaboration, in addition to documenting new and revised rules for the naming of strains. This document is updated annually by the international nomenclature committees for mouse and rat. [link]
Fee Schedule: Procurement/Quarantine of Rodents from Non-Commercial Sources (i.e., Academic Institution or Other). [link]
Before ordering any animals, the Principal Investigator must have an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approved protocol in place. An Animal Order Form then needs to be filled out completely and forwarded to the appropriate Animal Resources Program (ARP) office. [More Details]
Contact the ARP Internet Coordinator