ASC: Mouse norovirus and helicobacter no longer excluded pathogens on W8

As part of an ongoing operational review of policies and procedures at the BU Animal Science Center, research leadership has decided to no longer pursue the eradication of two excluded pathogens—mouse norovirus (MNV) and Helicobacter—among the conventional colonies on W8. They will remain excluded from all other housing spaces managed by the BUASC.

This decision came after careful consideration of the university’s decade-long effort to increase the baseline health status of mouse colonies across our facilities. A number of factors were weighed, ranging from the practices of our peers and the effort’s impact on current research as well as the costs of the W-8 cleanup effort so far, in both rederivation and space management.

The most immediate change resulting from this policy shift is that acute use spaces on M9 and W9 will no longer be needed, and housing and operational support for those two rooms for this purpose will end on Sept. 28, 2018. BUASC has a plan in place to work with researchers to either relocate or re-derive their animals.

Future mouse importations from non-approved vendors that report positive results for either MNV or Helicobacter will be permitted to enroll in quarantine, with the intent for release to colonies on W8. All remaining importation parameters will remain unchanged, and breeding cages for line maintenance and production on W8 will be billed the isolation per diem, currently $1.39 per cage. Rederivation of breeding animals for housing in 670 will continue to provide the most bio-secure option for colony maintenance, and remains preferred by BUASC.

Reviewed and approved by Rao Varada, BU ASC Director.