title: A survey of Pneumocystis carinii infection in research mouse colonies in Japan.
abstract: To determine the frequency of Pneumocystis carinii infection in mouse colonies maintained for biomedical research in medical colleges or medical faculties in universities in Japan, 409 nu/nu mice were sent to 43 animal facilities from a P. carinii-free colony. The animals were housed for 6 months in groups of 3 to 10 animals per room, and examined for the presence of parasites and infection. Colonies in 10 (24.4%) of 41 facilities were positive for the infection. Of 383 animals in 69 rooms, the organism was detected in 66 (17.2%) animals in 13 (18.8%) rooms. The difference in the proportion of rooms where mice were positive for P. carinii is clearly seen among these three groups; SPF mouse rooms (4 of 38 rooms, 10.5%), SPF mouse rooms with breeding units (5 of 25 rooms, 20.0%) and conventional mouse rooms (4 of 6 rooms, 66.7%). The survey indicates that strict housing arrangements and husbandry techniques are necessary to keep SPF mice free from P. carinii infection.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Laboratory Animals, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Serikawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kitada
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Muraguchi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yamada
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D000830:Animals, Laboratory / Q000382:microbiology*; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude / Q000382:microbiology*; D011020:Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D013047:Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms