ArticleJournal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS2022
Using Sterile Flocked Swabs as an Alternative Method for Rodent Health Monitoring.
Article in Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Institutional Cost Savings and Improved Pathogen Detection by Replacing Sentinel Mice with Environmental Soiled Bedding Health Monitoring Methods.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2025Article
- Evaluation of Direct Colony Sampling Compared with Sentinel-Free Soiled Bedding Testing for Murine Quarantine Programs.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2025Article
- Improved Detection of Murine Pathogens Using Sentinel-Free Media Compared to Live Animal Sampling.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2025Article
- Rodent Pathogen Detection via Testing of Soiled Nesting Material.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2025Article
- Evaluation of Sentinel-Free Soiled Bedding as a Replacement for Direct Sampling in PCR Detection of Rodent Pathogens during Quarantine.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2025Article
- A survey on the implementation of environmental health monitoring in mouse facilities in German-speaking countries.PloS one · 2025Article
- Effective Eradication of Mouse Norovirus and Helicobacter spp. in Laboratory Mice (Mus musculus) via Iodine Immersion and Cross-Fostering Technique.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2025Article
- Letter to the Editor Regarding "Assessing Methods for Replacement of Soiled Bedding Sentinels in Cage-level Exhaust IVC Racks" by Eichner and Smith.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2024Article
- Reply to Manuel and Colleagues Letter to the Editor.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2024Article
- A Cross-sectional Survey on Rodent Environmental Health Monitoring Practices: Benchmarking, Associations, and Barriers.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Routine health monitoring is an integral part of managing SPF rodent colonies. In recent years, rack-level environmental sampling has been introduced as an adjunct method or replacement for exposure of sentinel rodents to soiled bedding. However, rack-level environmental monitoring is not compatible with rodent housing systems that have cage-level filtration. The current study investigated whether exposure of sterile flocked swabs to soiled bedding can be an alternative sampling method for routine health monitoring in mice, thus replacing the use of sentinels in soiled-bedding cages. Flocked swabs were placed in cages containing pooled samples of soiled bedding but no mice; swabs remained there for 90 d, with weekly agitation and biweekly swabbing of the cage floor to mimic the agitation of soiled bedding by sentinel mice and facilitate the collection of dust particles. Fecal samples were collected from both colony and sentinel mice. For environmental samples, exhaust debris was collected from the rack plenum, and dust samples were collected from the exhaust hose. All samples were collected on days 88 through 91 and were tested for multiple pathogens by using real-time PCR assays. To determine the diagnostic agreement of flocked swab sampling with the other methods, we used κ statistics to compare the test results from flocked swabs with those from sentinel feces, exhaust debris, and colony animal feces; we found excellent agreement between the colony feces and the flocked swab methods. The sterile flocked swab method detected all enzootic pathogens in the colonies tested. Results from flocked swab samples had the least agreement with sentinel feces, which also failed to detect the presence of fur mites. This study supports the use of sterile flocked swabs as alternative to using sentinel mice, thus conforming to the guiding principles of replacement and reduction in the use of animals for routine colony health monitoring.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.