Facilty environment

The facility is alarmed and monitored 24 hours a day to ensure security.

All animal holding areas are maintained within a constant temperature and humidity range to avoid animal stress and to minimise experimental variability. Sensors constantly monitor temperature and humidity and any variations from the acceptable range initiate alarms that are monitored 24 hours a day. Differential air pressures are monitored to ensure that air does not flow from quarantine areas to clean areas, avoiding possible contamination. Lighting in animal rooms ensures 12 hours light and 12 hours dark.

A Building Maintenance System (BMS) monitors the function of key equipment, is able to pinpoint equipment failure and optimise functional efficiency. The BMS also provides information about service requirements, such as when HEPA filters need to be replaced.

Monitoring water, feed and bedding sterility

The provision of sterile water, feed and bedding is critical to maintaining the disease- free status of mice in the facility.

Water quality is monitored by the water filtration system and alarms for abnormal parameters are fed back to the building surveillance system. The pH of water provided to mice is constantly monitored.

Feed is gamma irradiated and the external surface of the feedbag is disinfected via hydrogen peroxide fumigation. The effectiveness of fumigation is checked using biological indicators while the provider of the gamma irradiation service provides reports on quality control.

Bedding is sterilised at 121 ° C for 15 minutes in steam sterilisers (autoclaves). Biological and temperature/ steam indicators are used to validate the effectiveness of autoclave sterilisation.