BACKGROUND

This Guideline is to establish recommendations for managing requests to import mice which may be infected with MPV. Wayne State University strives to maintain the health of all rodent colonies on campus and take steps to reduce exposure to infectious rodent pathogens.

IACUC Guidelines

Principles of Rodent Health Surveillance

1.  The Division of Laboratory Resources (DLAR) conducts sentinel mouse surveillance testing 3 times/year to evaluate our rodent population for excluded pathogens. Viral pathogens which are excluded from our mouse facilities include: EDIM, GDVII, MHV, MPV, MVM, Sendai, and TMEV.

2.  If mouse colonies are determined to be positive for an excluded viral pathogen appropriate steps are taken to eliminate the organism from the colony.

Mouse Importation

1.  DLAR encourages investigators to obtain mice from approved commercial vendors when possible. However, situations may arise which require mice to be received from a non-approved source (e.g. other universities, industry, government, small vendors).

2.  Approval to import animals from non-approved vendors is contingent on evaluation of medical health surveillance records from the originating institution and approval by a DLAR veterinarian.

3.  If health reports indicate concerns regarding the colony health status, the importation may be denied or additional steps taken to ensure the health of the mice.

4.  Importing mice from non-approved sources may place all mice on campus at risk for exposure to rodent pathogens. In order to protect valuable research projects and breeding on-campus, veterinary recommendations must be followed in regards to testing and management of import requests.

 5.  All imported mice will undergo a quarantine period of at least 4-6 weeks upon arrival at Wayne State University (unless previously approved by a veterinarian) and will be released once appropriate testing has been complete and results are negative.

Mouse Parvovirus (MPV)

1.  MPV is excluded from all mouse colonies at Wayne State University and we consider our mice to be free of this virus. MPV is difficult to eliminate from rodent colonies due to its stability in the environment, persistent infections, variable transmission, and difficulty with detection. In addition, the only effective means of managing this pathogen is test and cull or rederivation, leading to significant expense and loss of time for investigators.

2.  If a request is received to import mice from an institution which does not actively eliminate MPV or considers the colonies positive for MPV, the following options are available:

• Determine if there is an alternative source for the strain(s) requested; this could be a vendor or another university which maintains a more stringent health status.
•  Re-derive the strain(s) using a third party source (e.g. Jackson Laboratories, Van Andel, University of Michigan, Charles River)

Approved: October 2017

Revision Approved: 6/2018