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Animal Shipping FAQs

  • If you wish to ship or receive animals, our animal shipping coordinators are here to help you. We have shipping coordinators specific to the New Brunswick/Piscataway and the Newark facilities.

    For researchers located in New Brunswick/Piscataway, please contact: animal-shipping-nb@research.rutgers.edu

    For researchers located in Newark, please contact: animal-shipping-newark@research.rutgers.edu

    Please review the Animal Shipping page for more details on the process.

  • If you wish to import animals to your lab from an external institution, please email your animal shipping coordinator with your request. Your request will be reviewed by a veterinarian and we will notify you of the approval status. Researchers are not permitted to coordinate transfers independently. Please review the Animal Shipping page for more details on the process.

  • If you wish to export animals from your lab to an external institution, please email your campus-specific animal shipping coordinator with your request. Once the receiving institution has approved the request, we will coordinate a shipment date to transport your animals. Researchers are not permitted to coordinate transfers independently. Please review the Animal Shipping page for more details on the process.

  • To request internal transfer of animals within Rutgers use ACFC to facilitate the request. Paper forms are no longer accepted. Step-by-Step instructions for transfers between protocols or within same protocols are listed below:

    Internal transfer between Rutgers IACUC protocols

    Internal transfer within same IACUC protocol, different Rutgers location

    Please review the Animal Shipping page for more details on the process.

In Vivo Research Services FAQs

  • Rutgers has animal facility suitable for BSL3, zebrafish, gnotobiotic studies for multiple animal species including farm animals.

  • Rutgers offers one one-stop-shop services. These include core facilities for animal imaging, histopathology, Genome Editing, gnotobiotic and molecular analysis services.

  • Rutgers follow the highest standards of animal care and use. Rutgers is an AAALACi accredited institution, has OLAW Assurance and is USDA registered.

  • No. IVRS conducts research based on fee-for-service. All right, title to the results, data or materials generated shall be the property of the client.

  • The animal research will be done by IVRS highly experience and qualified technical staff and veterinarians.

Finance FAQs

  • A per diem is a per-day charge assessed to recover a portion of the money spent on care, procurement, and support of animals used in research. Per diem rates are established by the University and routinely reevaluated to determine proper cost recovery. Per diems will be charged for each day that a cage or animal is within Rutgers University Animal Caremanaged space. Routine cage/animal census counting will be based upon Rutgers University Animal Care’s policies and standard practices. Please visit the Animal Care Finance section for Per Diem rates.

  • An Animal Care Day is a single day that the cage or individual animal has been under the care of Rutgers University Animal Care. Please refer to the per diem rate schedule for the most up-to-date rate and to determine the unit of measure for the species of interest.

  • Per diem charges are computed on a monthly basis and consist of adding the total number of animal care days and multiplying that by the respective rate. For instance, if there are 10 cages of animals over a 30-day period, in which the per diem rate is $1/cage, the total per diem charge will be calculated as: 10 ages * 30 days * $1 per cage = $300 total per diem charge.

  • To place an order with an approved vendor, please visit Animal Orders.

Animal Training FAQs

  • The Rutgers University Comparative Medicine Resources (CMR) and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) have a required education program that must be completed by all personnel who work with animals in either research, testing, or teaching (faculty, staff, students, volunteers, and contract personnel). Before access is granted to animal facilities, all new animal users are required to completed training requirements. Please visit Training and Development for further details.

Animal Housing FAQs

  • Cages are available in the following three ways:

    1. Supplies are available on a cart/rack in room.
    2. Request is filled out and submitted to the facility supervisor (done when you need a large or specific amount).
    3. Caging is centrally located outside or near cage wash area in most facilities.

Rodent Pathogen FAQs

  • Pathogen

    Any microorganism that can cause disease in rodent colonies. Rutgers monitors for viral, bacterial, parasitic, and fungal pathogens. 

    SPF

    (Specific pathogen free)

    Animals free from a specified list of organisms, but otherwise having an undefined microbiota. Most rodents used in research are SPF. 

    Gnotobiotic

    Rearing animals free of microorganisms or with a defined microbiota. These animals require specific housing and sterile/aseptic handling techniques to maintain their microbiota. A gnotobiotic facility is located on the Newark campus. 

    Barrier

    Barrier facilities are designed and constructed to exclude the introduction of adventitious infectious agents from areas where animals of a defined health status are housed and used.

    Quarantine

    Isolation of any animals in a separate room or area upon entry to the facility or when suspected or determined to be positive for a known infectious agent. 

    Excluded agents

    Agents that are not permitted in Rutgers animal facilities.

    PPE

    (Personal protective equipment)

    Items of clothing such as gloves, lab coats, and bonnets, worn to protect staff from allergens and agents as well as to protect animals. Specific PPE instructions are typically located at the entrance to the vivarium. 

    Immunocompromised

    A strain of animals deficient in a particular aspect of their immune system. These animals may require special husbandry care to ensure health. An effort should be made to handle these animals first before handling immunocompetent animals

  • Length is 2-3 weeks after the arrival of the animals.

    Animals are housed in designated quarantine rooms and samples (feces, fur swabs, may include blood samples) are collected for testing of excluded agents. The timeframe may be extended for animals imported from high-risk external institutions.

    Access to quarantine rooms is restricted to comparative medicine resources assigned staff.

    Breeding of animals is not permitted while animals are in quarantine for import or export.

    Once negative results for excluded agents are received and approved by a veterinarian, the animals can be released into the main housing facility.

    Any positive animals must be used terminally in quarantine under the direction of veterinary staff, be rederived by embryo transplantation and documented free of disease, or euthanized.

    Costs of services: All quarantine costs and planning will be reviewed and approved by the PI or designee prior to importation of animals. PI or designee is responsible for the costs accrued during quarantine.

  • Managing risk involves the following steps:

    1. First and most importantly, the appropriate design and operation of facilities and use of appropriate safety equipment (engineering controls). Biological safety cabinets are the primary method for protecting our animals. Animals are maintained in micro-isolator caging and cages are opened within biological safety cabinets in most facilities.
    2. Second, the development of processes and standard operating procedures.
      • Rutgers aims to prevent the introduction of pathogen through screening of health reports prior to importation and performing a comprehensive quarantine procedure for imports.
      • Certain facilities maintain a specific room entry order. See below for more information.
      • A comprehensive health monitoring program is employed at Rutgers to test regularly for common rodent pathogens.
      • Trained staff monitor the animal cages daily for signs of disease.
    3. Finally, the proper use of PPE protects the animals from disease transmission. PPE is supplied in all animal facilities and must be used according to the posted signage. Do not reuse disposable PPE. PPE is the last line of protection.

  • Shoe covers do not improve (and may compromise) bio-exclusion. Donning of shoe covers offers a potential for contamination of personnel from contact with shoe bottoms.

  • Many facilities at Rutgers have rooms that exclude Mouse Norovirus (MNV) and Helicobacter. You may see a specific color on the door indicating the health status of the room.

    For example, if you enter a room positive for MNV and Helicobacter, you may not enter a room negative for MNV and Helicobacter that day.

    Rooms with a higher exclusion level of pathogens must always be entered first. Please contact the responsible facility supervisor if you have additional questions.

    Rooms that have a positive testing result may be moved to enter last status. This will be documented on the door, and you may not enter other animal rooms after that one.

  • Routine Exhaust Air Dust (EAD) testing is performed for ventilated caging involving filter media placed in the exhaust air plenum. Every three to four months after placement, the filter media is submitted to a testing laboratory (Charles River Laboratories) for PCR analysis of excluded agents.

    For racks without exhaust air duct filters, plenum swabs or cages with media and dirty bedding (Pathogen binders/ shake boxes) are used. Testing of these racks is also conducted every three to four months.

    Routine health monitoring testing is performed 3 times per year. Annually, a more comprehensive panel of pathogen screening is performed.            

    CMR research staff and affected PIs are notified when a room has tested positive for an excluded pathogen. An updated room entry order and/or quarantine may be placed on all affected rooms. Confirmatory testing is performed. Affected animals may be treated, re-derived or euthanized for prevention of disease spread, on a case-by-case basis.

  • Mice – MPV 1-5 (Mouse Parvovirus), MVM, MHV (Mouse Hepatitis Virus), TMEV (Theiler’s Encephalomyelitis Virus), EDIM (Epizootic Diarrhea of Infant Mice), SEND (Sendai Virus), PVM (Pneumonia Virus of Mice), REO (Reovirus), MPUL (Mycoplasma pulmonis), LCMV (Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus), MAV (Mouse Adenovirus), Ectro (Ectromelia Virus), HANT (Hantavirus), Poly (Polyomavirus), MuCPV/MKPV (Murine Chapparvovirus/Mouse Kidney Parvovirus), C. bovis (Corynebacterium bovis), mites, pinworms.

    Rats – Rat parvoviruses (RPV, H-1, KRV, RMV), SDAV (Sialodacryoadenitis virus), RTV (Theilovirus), SEND (Sendai virus), PVM (Pneumonia Virus of Mice), REO (Reovirus), MPUL (Mycoplasma pulmonis), LCMV (Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus), HANT (Hantavirus), mites, pinworms

    Helicobacter spp. and MNV, and RRV (Pneumocystis/PCAR) are excluded from some colony rooms.

    These lists are subject to change based on veterinary discretion based on pathogen prevalence.

  • GESR = Genome Editing Shared Resource: provides expertise and assistance in the development and production of genetically modified mouse models that can serve as in vivo models for addressing a wide variety of biological questions.

    https://research.rutgers.edu/animal-care/genome-editing-shared-resource-gesr

    The GESR offers line rederivation, genotyping, IVF, cryopreservation, and other services.