title: Standard operating procedures for maintaining cleanliness in a novel compact facility for breeding SPF mice.
abstract: A compact facility for SPF mice that was not equipped with a large autoclave used disposable mouse cages instead. The SPF clean room was 5.7 × 8.1 × 2.7 m(3), with a breeding capacity of 1008 cages (168 cages on each of 6 racks). We evaluated cleanliness in the SPF clean room under the conditions of an occupation rate of 60% to 70% and typically 1 to 3 personnel (maximum, 4 to 6) daily on weekdays. Personnel were taught standard procedures and received training beforehand. During the 15-mo study period, the maximal concentration of airborne particles 0.5 μm or larger was 1.0 × 10(4) particles/m3 and that of particles 5.0 μm or larger was 5.0 × 10(2) particles/m(3)--well below the maximal permissible concentrations of 3.52 × 10(5) and 2.93 × 10(3) particles/m(3), respectively. During the study period, no mice exhibited clinical symptoms of infection. Testing of 2 representative, overtly healthy mice for 16 pathogens including Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Helicobacter bilis failed to detect any of the target agents. The current study demonstrates the feasibility of the compact facility for breeding SPF mice in the academic environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Oriental Giken, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakuma
authors.affiliation: Oriental Giken, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Otokuni
authors.affiliation: Merck, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Izumi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, Japan. mikako@cc.tuat.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Mikako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saito
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary; D001947:Breeding; D004780:Environment, Controlled; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D006799:Housing, Animal / Q000592:standards; D007756:Laboratory Animal Science / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D051379:Mice; D013047:Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms