Model Description
<p style="text-align: justify;">Sentinel mice mainly refer to a type of mice with a healthy background that are introduced into important breeding groups. Through direct contact with the target mice or indirectly contact with dirty litter, the inspection of pathogenic microorganisms in the breeding area can be tested using sentinel mice. In addition, sentinel mice can be used to substitute important breeding groups to undergo medical examinations.
<p style="text-align: justify;">In general, healthy mice (excluding immunodeficient mice) that are older than 4 weeks and not contaminated by specific pathogens can be selected as sentinel mice. The strains of sentinel mice, such as ICR (CD1), BALB/c, FVB, and C57BL/6, can be selected as needed. Sentinel mice are usually housed at a density of 2–3 mice per cage. In addition, they are placed in the lowest position on the cage shelf. Typically, a cage of sentinel animals is used to monitor case shelves housing 60–100 cages. The litter used for the sentinel mice is the dirty litter that has been used by other mice. About 30–50 g litter is placed in each cage and the sentinel mice must live on the dirty litter for at least 4 weeks.
<p style="text-align: justify;">In general, the national standard stipulates that three months is counted as a testing cycle. Through the examination of sentinel mice, the condition of pathogens in the environment can be monitored in real time without affecting the experimental animals, thus ensuring standardized health and quality of experimental animals as well as repeatable experimental results. The examination of sentinel animals also has its limitations. For example, airborne pathogenic microorganisms not transmitted by contact may be overlooked, such as Sendai virus and Pasteurella pneumophila. Therefore, it is recommended to also examine random animals.
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