Safety & Housing

Question 0

Describe physical hazards

Answer 0

Trauma
Fire
Noise
Electricity
Apparatus under pressure
Radiation

Question 1

Which safety hazards are there?

Answer 1

Physical hazards
Chemical hazards
Allergies
Zoonosis

Question 2

What can you get from a dog or cat bite?

Answer 2

Capnocytophaga canimorsus

Question 3

What can you get from a rodent bite?

Answer 3

Streptobacillus monoliformi a
&
Spirillium minus
Rat bite fever!
Complications: myocarditis, meningitis, pneumonia
Immediately or after a couple of weeks
If you are bitten: check tetanus vaccination and let vet check animal

Question 4

Which types of radiation are there?

Answer 4

Alpha radiation - 2 protons, 2 neutrons, uranium or plutonium, stopped with paper
Beta radiation + or - charged, can go through skin; stopped by thick paper or plastic
Gamma radiation - photons, electromagnetic radiation, stopped with led

Question 5

How can you be contaminated by radiation?

Answer 5

Internally: breathing or oral intake

Externally: prevent dust, wear gloves, keep distance, don’t move animal, keep in separate housing

Question 6

Describe chemical hazards

Answer 6

Disinfectants
Anaesthesia 
Chemicals
Pathogens
Viral vectors, transgene animals

Question 7

Which pathogen classes are there?

Answer 7

1) non-pathogenic, to animal, man& plant
Class 2) causes disease, no spreading, treatment exists
Class 3) respiratory transmission, can cause serious or lethal disease, spreading
Class 4) no therapy exists, spreading, high risk of lethal disease

Question 8

What can you do to prevent chemical hazards?

Answer 8

Biohazard sign
Sink elbow tap
Autoclave
Air tight room

Question 9

What can make you more sensitive to allergies?

Answer 9

Smoking
Previous long infections
Predisposition

Question 10

How can you become allergic?

Answer 10

Via urine from rat or guinea pig
Saliva and fur guinea pig
Air
Bites and scratches
Sensitisation takes 6 - 36 months

Question 11

How does sensitisation work?

Answer 11

Allergen A –> offered to T lymphocytes –> T helper cells stimulate B lymphocytes –> produce allergen-specific IgE antibodies, which bind to mast cells and basophilic cells.
New contact with A binds to IgE –> release of histamine and other chemical mediators

Question 12

What are the consequences of allergy?

Answer 12

Todo

Question 13

How to prevent allergies?

Answer 13

1) screening programs - tests: intracutaneous, antibody measurement, contact allergy, long function
2) design of animal facility - ventilation, cage cleaners, IVC units and filter top cages
3) work organisation - cage density, bedding material, do other tasks, vacuum cleaners, clothing
4) personal protective equipment (PPE)

Question 14

Give some examples of zoonosis

Answer 14

Plague -via rats, “yersinia pestis” bacteria via flies
Leptospirosis - via urine in water, food or soil, causes muscle aches, vomiting, yellow skin/eyes, red eyes, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, rash, or nothing, and can lead to kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure, respiratory distress, death
3) hanta virus; hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome
4) LCMV: lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, dangerous for pregnant women
5) salmonellosis - diarrhoea
6) streptobacillus monoliformis - rat bite fever, haver hill fever, can result in myocarditis, meningitis, pneumonia
7) cow’s pox disease: causes lesion, swelling of lymph nodes, muscular pain, fever after 7-10 days
8) trichophyty: fungus trichophyty on app and microsporum spp, local ring-shaped or circular skin defects
9) herpes B - B-virus, primates, lethal for humans, via blood, urine or saliva –> scrubbing for 15 min, blood sample, antiviral cure, incub. Period 2 days to 1 month. Symptoms: herpes vesicles on point of inoculation, headache, tired, fever, conjunctivitis, neurological problems

Question 15

Which factors can influence homeostasis?

Answer 15

Cage mates, measures, sound, light, ventilation, temperature, humidity, noise, gasses

Question 16

What is important concerning ventilation in housing?

Answer 16

Filtered air to prevent dust and insects
Correct temperature & humidity
15-20 air changes per hour
No blind corners
Exhaust of air (removing of e.g. ammonia): ideally close to the floor to remove gasses

Question 17

What about the temperature in housing?

Answer 17

Homeothermic: maintaining a stable body temperature
Rodent: 20-22 degrees (but they like higher, let them build a nest)
Rabbit: 18-20 degrees
Too high: low activity, decreased breeding, even death in rabbits
Too low: disrupts the oestrus cycle
A cage has a micro-climate: higher than in the room
A heat pad can be used for anaesthetised animals

Question 18

Tell about humidity in housing

Answer 18

High relative humidity: growth of bacteria or funghi

Low RH: ringtail (rats), dehydration in nude mice & rats, death in pups

Question 19

Tell about gasses in housing

Answer 19

CO2-gas: from respiration, but caused no problems, <10ppm for rabbits
Particularly in filter top cages
So clean regularly

Question 20

What about noise in housing?

Answer 20

Animals have a better auditory system than men

Use background noise because sudden loud, unexpected and unfamiliar sounds are harmful and disruptive

Question 21

What are the consequences of loud noise in housing?

Answer 21

Cannibalise
disturbed oestrus cycle
decreased fertility
reduced growth in mice
hypertension (high blood pres) in rats
changed blood chemistry and other haematological parameters

Question 22

What about light in housing?

Answer 22

Most lab animals are nocturnal: eyes adapted to dim light, and very restricted colour vision
Albinos: can have light-induced retinal damage
Less than 40-25 lux is necessary
130-325 lux in room for routine procedures
+/- 500 lux in specialist areas (lab or operating theatre)
Damage within 1 he is possible, so cover the eyes

Question 23

Tell about day-night rhythm

Answer 23

When changes are introduced in the rhythm problems with breeding can occur
Light-dark cycle can be reversed for behavioural studies

Question 24

What do you need to know about your animals’ olfactory system?

Answer 24

• Important for social encounters
• For competitive aggression between males
• Influences physiology through priming effects (e.g. Whitten effect in mice)
• cage cleaning: scent-marking patterns are disturbed
• Inbreeding/transgenesis might have an effect on the olfactory system
• NEVER put rats (or cats) and mice in the same room, because rats are natural predators of mice, and change your lab coat, mask, gloves between rooms

Question 25

What is the Whitten effect?

Answer 25

Occurs when male pheromones stimulate synchronous oestrus in a female population
Pheromones act as a social stimulus

Question 26

What cage materials are there?

Answer 26

-wood: warm, difficult to clean, chewing
-plastics: light, easy to clean
Polycarbonate (Macrolon): transparent, autoclave lie
Polypropylene: White, cannot withstand high temperatures
Polystyrene: disposable cages, cheap, quite transparent, washable at 80 degrees
-stainless steel: easy to keep clean (can be cleaned in acid against urinary proteins), very durable, but expensive, heavy

Question 27

Types of cage bottoms?

Answer 27

Closed floors - bedding material, but animals live in their own dirt
Mesh floors - be careful with bar distance, faeces and urine go through, no risk of drowning, club feet (guinea pig), lesions of sole (rabbit), no bedding or nesting material

Question 28

Drinking water in housing? Pros and cons of automatic system?

Answer 28

Water can be acidified with HCIl, filtered, chlorite door irradiated with UV.
Automatic water supply system:
\+ labour saving
\+ always fresh water
- no control on water intake
- risk of clogging
- difficult to disinfect

Question 29

Drinking water: why bottles or why bowls?

Answer 29

Bottles: easy to control
Labour intensive
Risk of emptying and drowning
Always check if water comes out (air bubble)
Water bowls: used for larger animals or when animal is immobilised
Good fixation and daily cleaning necessary

Question 30

Feedhoppers or -racks: what can you tell?

Answer 30

Feed must be easy to access
Fresh
Enough
Hamster: put some pellets in the cage following on natural behaviour
Give hay or straw (crude fibres, cage enrichment)

Question 31

What is good bedding material?

Answer 31

It should absorb faeces and urine
Insulate
Enrich (build nests)
Free of contaminants 
Dust-free
Free of MO
Well absorbing and binding NH3
No harmful products, e.g. no pine wood
Examples: wood shavings, corn hob

Question 32

What is environmental enrichment? Pros and cons? And for behaviour?

Answer 32

Everything that improves the display of natural, species-specific behaviour and that decreases or stops abnormal or pathological behaviour
Goal: enhance life quality, research quality, achieve “refinement”.
Cons: higher costs an hygiene problems
Behaviour:
Decreases fighting in aggressive males, or certain inbred mouse strains, calms animals, decreases barbering in mice

Question 33

Which types of environmental enrichment are there?

Answer 33

• social: contact with cage mates and humans
• dietary: offering hay or straw, presenting food in natural way (foraging)
• sensory: auditive, visual, olfactory (dirty bedding)
• physical enrichment: cage dimensions and design, toys

Question 34

Which housing systems are there?

Answer 34

1) conventional
2) semi-barrier
3) A2animal facility
4) specified pathogen-free (SPF) facility

Question 35

What is a conventional animal facility?

Answer 35

Multifunctional rooms
Maximum flexibility
Lamps against infestation of insects in corridor
Windows in the doors
Separate lab coat for each room
Washing room with clean and dirty side
Bedding material stored near the clean washing room
Feed stored in cool dry room, in reachable for vermin

Question 36

What does a barrier system look like?

Answer 36

Barrier units
Isolators
Ventilated cabinets
Filtertop cages
Individually ventilated cages (IVC)
-preventive hygiene measures
-applicable to different levels
Complete or partial facility, one or several rooms, one rack or a group of cages, 1 single cage
For protection of animal, personnel and environment

Question 37

Which risks are there for which we can use a barrier unit?

Answer 37

In: staff, air, lab animals, wild rodents and insects, material (cage), feed, water, bedding material, biological products
Out: staff, air, garbage, lab animals, biological/experimental products

Question 38

What are five essential characteristics of barrier units?

Answer 38

1) Complete germ tight unit, from which the clean zone can be disinfected
2) lock for transfer of material or animals
3) ventilation: sterile air, in and out
4) lock for staff
5) possibility to observe and control the clean zones from the outside

Question 39

What is an isolator (cage)?

Answer 39

From 1912 (Küster)
Before 1946: pressure resistant and stainless steel isolators with thick walls
1946: Gustafson, thin and stainless steel, non-pressure resistant isolators
In general: complex construction, expensive to buy and maintain
50s: Trexler, introduction of flexible film isolators (PVC)

Question 40

What is a Trexler isolators?

Answer 40

PVC (flexible film) isolators
\+ cheap
\+ simple to handle
\+ use of acid as disinfectant 
- perforation of gloves

Question 41

Give five characteristics of an isolator

Answer 41

• closed sterile room, from which content and inside can be sterilised
• possibility to observe from outside
• lock to pass material and staff
• ventilation system, sterile air supply and exhaust of dirty air
• possibility to work from outside

Question 42

What is the difference between barrier unit and isolator?

Answer 42

• isolator: gloves instead of personnel lock

- isolator: personnel has no direct contact with animals

Question 43

What are ventilated cabinets?

Answer 43

Sealed airtight
Under negative or positive pressure
Controlled environment (temp and hum) and light cycle
Animals must be handled in laminar flow

Question 44

What is a filter cage?

Answer 44

From 1958, Kraft, easy removable but airtight filter
+ effective hygiene barrier (housing of immune deficient animals)
+ prevention of cross-contamination
+ limiting animal related aerosols and allergens
+ protection against sudden changes in the environment
+ low cost
- handling must be done in laminar flow, preferably using tweezers
- influences the air changes between the room and the cage: micro-environment

Question 45

What is an individually ventilated cage?

Answer 45

IVC
+ superior micro-environment (up to 70 air changes per hour)
+ less cage changes necessary (less bedding and autoclaving)
+ protection for staff and environment
+ can be placed in older animal houses

Question 46

What is an A2 facility?

Answer 46

In this facility it is very important what comes out:
Staff, air, garbage, lab animals, biological/experimental products
See picture slides

Question 47

What is an SPF facility?

Answer 47

Specified pathogen free facility
It is very important what goes in: staff, air, lab animals, wild rodents/insects, material (cage), feed water bedding, biological/experimental products

Question 48

What is a metabolic cage?

Answer 48

Cage to measure feed intake, water intake, excretion of urine and/or faeces

Question 49

What do you need to think about when transporting animals?

Answer 49

• some animals are more susceptible than others, e.g. Pigs, fish
• old and young are more susceptible to stress
• never transport sick animals
• provide water, feed and bedding material, keep density low (no overcrowding)
• acclimatise and quarantine (if necessary)