| Reportno. |
AHRI report No.42 |
| Topic |
Production of Primary Specific Pathogen Free Rabbits for Experimental Use |
| Department |
Branch Institute for Animal Drugs Inspection, Animal Health Research Institute 21 Mochang, Ciding Village , Chunan Township , Mioli County , Taiwan 35054 |
| Author |
Y. P. Lin*1 , M. E. Chen1, H. M Chiu1, C. F. Liang1 and Tien-Lai Hsu
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| Summary |
For upgrading the quality of experimental rabbits from conventional clean to specific pathogen free (SPF) levels, a new animal building for the production of SPF rabbits was established at the Branch Institute for Drugs Inspection, Animal Health Research Institute in 2004. This animal building has about 660 square meters in size and contains a closed system with positive air pressure system. The air entering the house is filtered by a high efficiency special air filter to prevent it from carrying pathogens and dusts, and the room temperature is kept at 25 ℃ by air-conditioning. Rooms inside the animal facility are allocated for surgery, breeding, breeder, nursery, wash and preparation, feed and through type steam sterilization. In the surgery room, biosafety cabinets for surgery and animal isolator are equipped for primary SPF production. For technical establishment and production of primary SPF rabbits, conventional clean does of New Zealand breed, at the last day of gestation or at the day of laboring, are selected for Caesarean delivery of kittens by aseptic techniques. The kittens are kept in animal isolator first and raised by artificial suckling method. On Day 21 to 33 after birth, kittens are fed with lactobacilli and bacteroides for developing normal intestinal flora. Then the rabbits are transferred from animal isolator to cage unit for further raising.
Feed, water, and materials used for primary SPF rabbits are all sterilized. We have performed Caesarean section on five breeding does and got 31 SPF rabbits. The results of health surveillance and monitoring of primary SPF rabbits showed that the animals were free from 10 common rabbit pathogens, and this indicated that the health status of primary rabbits has met the SPF criteria.
These primary SPF rabbits will be further bred to generate the secondary SPF rabbits. In addition to SPF rabbits of the Japanese breed, we now have a new choice of laboratory New Zealand breed SPF rabbits for research in biology, biotechnology and biomedicine in Taiwan .
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| Keyword |
SPF, Rabbit, Laboratory animal
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