Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science Volume 63: Issue 6

Since 2015, it has become progressively more difficult for programs to recruit residents in laboratory animal medicine (LAM). Veterinarians are a necessary part of animal research, and having a shortage in veterinarians trained to work in this field has the potential to negatively impact research progress as well as animal welfare. With a goal to increase recruitment, we performed this study to better understand the barriers and facilitators that veterinarians experience when navigating the decision to pursue postdoctoral training in LAM. To do this, we recruited first-year LAM residents to participate in semistructured interviews, and performed thematic analysis on their responses. Key barriers included participants’ awareness of perceived drawbacks of the field, inaccessibility of information about opportunities within the field, and misinformation about animal research both within the veterinary field and society at large. Key facilitators included participants’ awareness of perceived benefits of the field, relationships with professionals involved in laboratory animal science, and formative predoctoral clinical experiences. Overall, we found evidence that information flow is particularly important in recruitment, suggesting that future recruitment strategies may want to target improved communication about LAM and animal research in general.

To investigate the knowledge and attitudes of medical graduate students regarding laboratory animal welfare, a survey was conducted on 288 medical graduate students from the 2019 to 2023 cohorts through the final exam of the compulsory course ‘Medical Laboratory Animal Science.’ The survey included both closed and open-ended questions. We calculated the awareness rate from the cumulative student score/maximum score based on the questions and scoring rubrics. We found that medical graduate students showed relatively low awareness of laboratory animal welfare and limited understanding of related knowledge. There were shortcomings in theoretical knowledge and practical experience related to laboratory animals’ welfare and ethical aspects of laboratory animal care and use. Students in basic medical disciplines demonstrated slightly better awareness of laboratory animal welfare than those in other disciplines. In addition, female students exhibited a higher awareness of laboratory animal welfare than male students. In recent years, there has been a gradual increase in the awareness of the importance of laboratory animal welfare among medical graduate students, but a decrease in awareness was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, a need exists for strengthening education on laboratory animal welfare in medical schools to enhance students’ awareness. It is suggested that school-specific expectations with respect to the replacement, reduction, and refinement principles be established to balance the needs of medical research and laboratory animal welfare, as a way to ensure the ethical considerations and the smooth progress of medical research are both met.

Disinfectant application to gloved hands before handling SPF mice is standard practice to minimize transmission of pathogens and microbial contamination between cages. The risk of contamination with murine pathogens on gloves as well as the efficacy of disinfectant application for this step is largely unknown. This study aimed to determine if murine norovirus (MNV), Helicobacter spp., and Rodentibacter spp. are detectable on gloved hands and, if they are, to evaluate how effective the application of a hydrogen peroxide-based disinfectant (Rescue) or 70% ethanol is in reducing the transfer of these pathogens while handling multiple cages of mice. Mice with natural infections of these pathogens were handled without the application of any disinfectant and the gloves were swabbed for PCR testing. All pathogens were detected via PCR with Helicobacter spp. the most frequently transferred in 83% of the cages handled. The mice were then divided into 4 treatment groups based on the product applied to gloves before handling: Rescue, 70% ethanol, sterile water, and no product. Mice in each cage were briefly handled, and the gloves were swabbed with ATP swabs after each cage and swabs for PCR testing after handling 4 and 9 cages, consecutively. All pathogens were detected via PCR in all treatment groups, and neither Rescue nor 70% ethanol was superior to water or no product in reducing contamination. Rescue and 70% ethanol were effective in maintaining lower levels of organic microbial contamination than water and no product for consecutive handling of up to 3 and 4 cages of mice, respectively. This study indicates that exposure to MNV, Helicobacter spp., and Rodentibacter spp. from handling mice is a risk and the application of Rescue or 70% ethanol is not completely effective in eliminating transfer of these pathogens.

This corrects the article DOI:

In an editorial published on pages 353 to 358 in Volume 63 issue 4 (July 2024) of JAALAS, the dataset used in Figure 2 was described as the number of articles published by year, but the dataset was actually the number of articles submitted by year.

The fourth sentence in the third paragraph of the editorial should be:

“Looking at the trends for JAALAS and CM since 2014 (Figure 2), the number of articles submitted per year has gradually dropped for both journals, but the trend in the drop in number of

Schistosoma mansoni Infection in Three Green Monkeys (Chlorocebus sabaeus) Originating from Saint Kitts

Michael A EckhausVMD, DACVP,

Jeremy J BearssDVM, DACVP,

Rachel M FleischmannBS,

Jennifer KetzisPhD,

Tiffany LavinderDVM,

Amy BeierschmittDVM,

Jessica PlunkardMPH, DVM, and

Gregory W SalyardsDVM, MPH, DACLAM

Letter to the Editor: The Financial Realities of the Zebrafish as a Model Organism

AALAS Journal Updates for Authors

From the Archives, in Recognition of the 75th Anniversary of AALAS: Presentations from the 4th Annual Meeting of the Animal Care Panel (1953)

Commentary

Money, Mentorship, and Misinformation: Barriers and Facilitators to Veterinarians’ Pursuit of Postdoctoral Training in Laboratory Animal Medicine

Survey Results on the Awareness of Laboratory Animal Welfare among Medical Graduate Students

Evaluation of the Efficacy of Disinfectants in Reducing Contamination of Bacterial and Viral Murine Pathogens on Gloved Hands

Determination of an Acclimation Period for Swine in Biomedical Research

Corynebacterium bovis Growth in Tissue Culture Conditions and Media

COVID-19 Pandemic Effects on the Activity Levels of Yucatan Mini-Swine (Sus scrofa domesticus)

Point-of-Care Cardiac Troponin I Assay Evaluation in New Zealand White Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

General Anesthesia Induced by a Combination of Medetomidine/Vatinoxan with Ketamine and Buprenorphine-ER in C57BL/6J Mice (Mus musculus)

A New Laboratory Research Model: The Damaraland Mole-rat and Its Managed Care

Identification and Treatment of Fur Mites (Radfordia lemnina) in California Deer Mice (Peromyscus californicus) Using Selamectin

Erratum: AALAS Journals: Continual Adaptation to Meet Changing Environments

AALAS Members

How to access member-only articles.

Schistosoma mansoni Infection in Three Green Monkeys (Chlorocebus sabaeus) Originating from Saint Kitts

Double-Chambered Right Ventricle and Intraventricular Thrombosis Mimicking Double-Chambered Right Ventricle in Cynomolgus Monkeys (Macaca fascicularis)

Effects of Long-Term Carprofen and Omeprazole Administration in C57BL/6J Mice

Serum Pharmacokinetics of a Highly Concentrated Buprenorphine Formulation in Older Female Sprague–Dawley Rats (Rattus norvegicus)

Effect of Anesthesia on Hematologic Parameters of Female Domestic Swine (Sus scrofa domestica)

Short-Term Storage and Transport at Cold Temperatures of 2-Cell Mouse Embryos Produced by Cryopreserved Sperm

Serologic Prevalence of MPV1 in Mouse Strains in a Commercial Laboratory Mouse Colony Determined by Using VP1 Antigen

Comparison of Carbon Dioxide and Argon Euthanasia: Effects on Behavior, Heart Rate, and Respiratory Lesions in Rats

Spontaneous Staphylococcus xylosus Infection in Mice Deficient in NADPH Oxidase and Comparison with Other Laboratory Mouse Strains

Treatment and Eradication of Murine Fur Mites: I. Toxicologic Evaluation of Ivermectin-Compounded Feed