Veterinary Services & Diagnostic Support

Veterinary Services

• Pre-review of experimental protocols
• Assistance in design and planning of animal experimentation procedures
• Training of research staff in common experimental procedures and techniques
• Anesthesia and surgical assistance and consultation
• Health surveillance and clinical medicine services for laboratory animals
• Health surveillance and reproductive consultation for agricultural animals

Please call the ARP office at 865-1495 to arrange a consultation or speak with a veterinarian or technician.

Clinical Pathology

For fee serology testing for various species is available to University Park campus research investigators from the ARP. Please call the ARP office at 865-1495 for more information.

Diagnostic services

• Necropsy; Gross- and histo-pathology
• Ultrasound - Color flow Doppler, continuous wave and pulse wave Doppler available. Tissue velocity mapping capabilities.
• Digital Radiography - In house and portable capabilities
• Parasitology

Please call the ARP office at 865-1495 for more information.

Rodent Health Surveillance & Disease Prevention

Colonies of research rodents are susceptible to infection with a variety of bacterial, viral and parasitic agents. In many instances these agents produce no clinical signs yet result in physiologic changes that may alter, and in some cases, invalidate research carried out on infected animals. In addition, a few agents may infect people working with animals. Therefore, it is important to maintain rodent research colonies free of infectious agents. ARP conducts regular health surveillance of laboratory rodent colonies in PSU facilities using established environmental monitoring procedures.

Disease Transmission

Infectious agents may enter an animal colony via several routes including:

• Infected animals imported from outside the university
• Contaminated cell lines which are subsequently introduced into rodents
• Contaminated personnel or equipment entering the facility
• Feral rodents within the facility

Once introduced into a rodent colony, an infectious agent may spread (be transmitted) rapidly through the animal facility. The ease and potential impact of such transmission has fueled the development of complicated housing systems such as barriers, microisolation systems, and positive pressure ventilated caging. Routes of transmission include:

• Direct contact between animals
• Dissemination through the room air
• Transportation of agents on equipment, instruments, and personnel

In order to minimize the chance of introducing infectious agents to our colonies, the university purchases animals only from reputable vendors who perform and report the results of extensive rodent health monitoring. Only animals that meet pre-established standards are accepted from the following approved animal sources:

• Charles River
• Envigo
• Taconic
• Jackson Laboratories

Non-Approved Animal Sources

All animals from commercial vendors not listed above and laboratory animal facilities associated with other colleges or universities and private companies are quarantined on arrival and tested before release to PSU animal facilities. In addition, all cell lines obtained from outside the university are tested for murine pathogens before they may be used in rodents. Please see the Importation of Animals to Penn State from Other Institutions section of this website for further information.

Quarantine for Imported Animals

All laboratory animals arriving on the Penn State University Park campus from non-approved animal sources must undergo a period of quarantine in a protected area of the animal facility. This period allows the animal(s) to recover from the stress of shipment and to be screened for clinical health problems and infection with pathogenic organisms to prevent introduction of disease to the animal facility. The quarantine period will be dependent on the animal species, source and health status.