BRF Update - AUGUST (2) 2019
I have a number of important updates to share, please read on:
Helicobacter infection
In our most recent round of health monitoring the excluded bacteria Helicobacter was detected in one of our standard breeding rooms. More information on this bacterial species can be found here:
https://www.criver.com/sites/default/files/resources/HelicobacterspeciesTechnicalSheet.pdf
Potentially affected labs and the TRI BRF User Group were notified and animal movements were minimised whilst we performed comprehensive follow up testing the following week. This testing confirmed that Helicobacter was contained to a single line (and its cross) that was imported in Nov 2018. This line was subject to comprehensive health testing upon import but unfortunately due to human error Helicobacter was missed from the panel of tests selected. These lines are now ‘touch last’ and we are confident that we can continue to safely contain these lines whilst they are undergoing rederivation.
Although it was not a great result to receive, I would like to thank the BRF team for their speedy response to this situation – it is also thanks to the coordinated efforts of our team in maintaining a high standards in our practices that this agent has not spread all since importation. These test results also validated a new type of testing that we were trialling, showing improved sensitivity for detecting Helicobacter compared to our existing practices (which did not detect this in a round of testing performed earlier this year).
Health monitoring policy
On a related/coincidental note, our health monitoring policy has now been finalised and is attached to this email as well as being available on the BRF Intranet page here. This policy has taken over 12 months of research, consultation and testing/trials to be developed and has largely been in place for over 6 months. We have built up our skills and knowledge in this area and as our testing has become more targeted/effective we have been able to detect low prevalence/minor agents which are likely to have always been present in TRI colonies. Please take the time to look through the following in particular:
- Caveats on what affects our ability to detect and eliminate infectious agents and considerations for the potential impact on the microbiome of animals
- The exclusion list of agents (hyperlinks are provided where possible to provide more information on these agents, which range from serious to unknown/minor effects) as well as what agents are tolerated in some areas
- Potential costs of testing and under what situations these will be paid for by research labs (imports and some types of disease investigations)
Please send through any feedback or queries directly or via your Users Group representative as this policy will require review on an annual basis at minimum.
Changes to technical bookings
We will be trailing the ‘incident’ function on PPMS for the technical booking system to do the following:
- Block out lunch breaks to improve the wellbeing of the team to reduce bookings during this period
- Reduce capacity from 9-13th September as we have some members of the team attending a conference this week
- Dropping the number of available hours on ‘Technical Services 3’ as we are currently approaching capacity for technical bookings which is starting to impact on our other husbandry services – it appears to be a busy time for projects. We can update this as our staffing resources and project demands change or on a case-by-case basis so please just let us know if you really need a particular day/time
- Capping weekend booking availability to 7-11am
Please note that existing bookings will be unaffected, this process will prevent new bookings in the restricted time. These changes are to encourage people to naturally spread out their bookings in a way that is more manageable, but if you need a specific time that is not available we can negotiate on whether this would be possible. Please send through any feedback as this is a new process for us, so that we can make any changes as necessary.
Anaesthetic logs
We have been receiving mixed feedback about the performance of the anaesthetic equipment. The logs for utilisation of the equipment have been updated (see template attached), please ensure that you note any issues/concerns down and report any safety incidents as required.
