title: Implementation of a PCR assay of Pasteurella pneumotropica to accurately screen for contaminated laboratory mice.
abstract: The authors implemented a PCR protocol to rapidly screen for Pasteurella pneumotropica and to accurately identify contaminated laboratory mice in a clinical setting. This protocol was implemented in response to a severe outbreak of P. pneumotropica in their animal facility. Although a sentinel program was in place to routinely screen for P. pneumotropica, it was inadequate for the identification of contaminated animals. As a result, several additional strains of mice were contaminated and developed clinical signs of infection. The authors implemented a screening method using PCR with reported primer pairs previously developed to identify the biotype isolates of P. pneumotropica in laboratory mice. Throat culture swabs were collected from live mice and placed in a bacterial culture. The DNA from these cultures was isolated and screened by PCR. This procedure enabled the authors to eliminate P. pneumotropica from several animal housing rooms. The assay can be easily applied in most animal facilities.
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Mariette
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ouellet
authors.forename: Mitra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cowan
authors.forename: Anick
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laporte
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Faubert
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Héon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006799:Housing, Animal; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010326:Pasteurella Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D044142:Pasteurella pneumotropica / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods* / Q000662:veterinary; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*