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Core Services
Receipt of Mice
Quarantine
Animal Husbandry
The goal of the Animal Health and Welfare Core is to ensure the health and welfare of the mice in order to
enhance efficiency and maximize consistency in phenotypic characterizations. To achieve that goal the Core
employs the following strategies:
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Coordinate transfer of mice from Institutions outside of Vanderbilt.
Assure that mice admitted to the MMPC meet defined health criteria and that post-quarantine protocol
assignment and transfer is conducted efficiently and in a timely fashion.
Direct the implementation of daily husbandry and care.
Provide veterinary care to mice admitted to the MMPC, and diagnose disease and identify unique
metabolic or cardiovascular phenotypes of mice through interaction with the Comparative Pathology
Subcore.
Assure compliance with MMPC guidelines and local, national, and federal regulatory bodies and
provide guidance to the Administrative Core on all issues that are veterinary in nature.
The procedures used in the Core are those that have been recommended by the National MMPC program
and are summarized below. Investigators inside Vanderbilt are charged directly for per diems and MMPC is
charged per diems for investigators from outside Vanderbilt. The MMPC incorporates the charges for animal
care into the total cost for phenotyping services.
Receipt of Mice
The Core ensures the health and pathogen status of shipped experimental mice to a) assure data integrity
for the metabolic and cardiovascular phenotypes being studied and b)
maintain the health standards of the larger DAC colony.
Table 1. Testing of Mice for
Before mice are accepted into MMPC quarantine from outside
Admittance into the MMPC
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Ectromelia
research institutes they undergo the screening guidelines recommended
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Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus
by the National MMPC program. The source institution must test for the
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Mouse adenoviruses
pathogens listed in Table 1 and provide a health certificate no older than
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Mouse hepatitis virus
4 months. There are a number of mice in stock at approved vendors that
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Mouse parvoviruses
may be useful for testing a hypothesis related to metabolic disease.
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Mouse rotavirus (EDIM)
Animals are accepted from approved commercial vendors and admitted
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Mycoplasma pulmonis
directly into the MMPC. Investigators are encouraged when possible to
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Pneumonia virus of mice
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Minute virus of mice
send mice from approved vendors as the cost is less and the turnaround
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Reovirus
time is shorter because quarantine is not required.
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Sendai virus
Theiler’s virus
Murine Minute Virus
Ectoparasites
Endoparasites
Quarantine
Table 2. VUMC Approved Vendors
Mice from other research institutions with the exception of
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Harlan Teklad
approved vendors (Table 2) must undergo quarantine and testing
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Jackson Labs
prior to release into the colony. Once animals enter Vanderbilt, they
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Taconic Farms
may enter quarantine by the standard or expedited track (Table 3).
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Charles River Labs
The expedited track is of value for investigators that require

National Cancer Institute
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National Institute of Aging
results in a shorter time frame or in mice in which phenotyping is
time sensitive due to factors such as age or diet duration. The
disadvantage is that it requires fecal PCR testing, which is currently considerably more expensive. Mice must
test negative for the items in Table 4 to be released from quarantine.
Upon Receipt into Quarantine
All Experimental Animals:
 Receive Fenbendazole Diet for the duration of quarantine.
 Receive cages treated with Atguard ® granules.
 Breeding is not allowed during quarantine.
1. Standard Track
 Experimental mice: Samples are collected (fecal samples, tape tests of pelage and
perineum) for parasitology. Testing for Mouse Hepatitis Virus is performed on a subset of
animals from the shipment. Tests may either be by ELISA or PCR analysis.
 Sentinel Mice: Direct contact sentinels (female CD-1) are placed in cages with experimental
mice for a minimum of 96 hrs. Following this direct exposure, sentinels are returned to their
home cages for additional exposure by soiled bedding at cage change. Following 6 wks of
exposure, sentinels are sacrificed and tested for the pathogens outlined in Table 4.
 Assurance for exclusion of mites: Experimental mice will be examined once upon arrival
for ectoparasites via fur pluck/tape test. Sentinel animals will be tested at the end of the six
week exposure series
 Movement of mice from quarantine into MMPC: If all results from experimental and
sentinel mice are negative, experimental mice can be moved into the general colony or into
the MMPC. Total time in quarantine is ~6 to 8 weeks depending upon turn-around time for
laboratory tests and any necessary confirmatory tests. Positive tests will be confirmed and if
confirmed, the mice may be euthanized minimizing pathogen risks to the MMPC.
2. Expedited Track
 Experimental mice: Upon entry into MMPC quarantine and again 14 days after arrival, fecal
samples are collected from 50% of mice shipped. Fecal samples from up to 6 mice may be
pooled, and submitted to a diagnostic laboratory for comprehensive fecal PCR testing for
prevalent agents found in the US (mouse comprehensive PCR fecal panel agents excluded
by MMPC – MPV-1, MPV-2, MPV-3, MVM, MHV, TMEV, EDIM, Syphacia obvelata,
Aspiculuris tetraptera, Helicobacter spp. and MNV). This will identify early on mice that may
be shedding organisms and would be the ‘most risk’ to the receiving institution; the later time
point will detect organisms that may have been acquired during shipment.
 Surplus mice: Surplus mice from the same colony and housed in the same room as the
experimental mice are shipped along with the experimental mice. Surplus mice should ideally
be 2 younger (4-6 wks) and 2 older (3-6 months) female mice; preferably wild-type or
heterozygote littermates that are presumably immunocompetent mice and can act as
‘sentinel mice’. Surplus mice should be exposed to dirty bedding from the transport container
and dirty bedding from the experimental mice during the 14 day period after arrival in MMPC
quarantine.
 Evaluation of surplus mice: These mice are necropsied 14 days after arrival with serology
done for pathogens per the usual quarantine panel (Table 4). Surplus mice are also
evaluated for fur mites by pelage examination, pinworms by direct examination of cecum and
proximal colon contents, and splenic tissue PCR for Mouse parvovirus. These mice serve as
further assurance that experimental mice are free of excluded organisms.
 Assurance for exclusion of mites: Experimental mice will be examined twice for
ectoparasites via fur pluck/tape test once on entry and again 14 days later. Surplus mice will
have pelage exam done at necropsy representing a 3rd check for ectoparasites.
 Movement of mice from quarantine into MMPC: If all results from experimental and
surplus mice are negative, experimental mice can be moved into the general colony or into
the MMPC. Total time in quarantine will be ~3–4 weeks depending upon turn-around time for
laboratory tests and any necessary confirmatory tests. Positive tests will be confirmed and if
confirmed, the mice will be euthanized minimizing pathogen risks to the MMPC.
Animal Husbandry
Trained DAC staff under the supervision of Dr. Salleng conducts MMPC mouse husbandry. Dr. Salleng’s
staff has specific guidelines they follow for performing husbandry with minimal disruption to ongoing
experiments. Husbandry, as are all animal care procedures, is conducted in adherence with MMPC standard
guidelines and strictly follows local, national, and federal regulations.