# Rodent health monitoring. *See the different approaches*. Of 15 facilities whose procedures we read, 6 have dropped live sentinel animals for PCR testing of rack exhaust dust (4) or of filters exposed to dirty bedding (2). 5 still rely on live sentinels alone, and 4 use both. [Open the Vet block](https://streamcell.com/library/vet) ยท [See the form](https://streamcell.com/library/rodent-health-monitoring#the-form) ## Key facts - **Facilities compared**: 15, from their public procedures, October 2026 - **Ways it's done**: 4 - **Part of**: [The Vet block](https://streamcell.com/library/vet) ## What the procedures reveal Three findings a vet or facility manager would stop on. - **6 of 15**: no longer use live sentinels for routine monitoring. At 4 of them, the documents date the switch to October 2021 or later. - **7 of 15**: take a second look before acting on a positive: a retest, or a backup sample kept for it. - **4 of 15**: state that the labs on the rack are told of a problem result. ## Where do monitoring programs part ways? One path from the calendar to the labs on the rack, and the three points where the 15 facilities split. 1. **A calendar sets when each room is sampled** (15 of 15 facilities) 2. **How often is each room tested?** - Every quarter: 7 of 15 - Three times a year: 3 of 15 - Set by the room's health level or use: 3 of 15 - Twice a year, some rooms quarterly: 1 of 15 - Once a year: 1 of 15 3. **What goes to the lab?** - Live sentinels: 5 of 15 - Exhaust air dust: 4 of 15 - Both, chosen by room: 4 of 15 - Bedding filters: 2 of 15 4. **A diagnostic lab tests it** (15 of 15 facilities) 5. **Who gets the results first?** - A vet: 3 of 15 - Vet staff or a vet tech: 3 of 15 - A manager or supervisor: 1 of 15 - A health monitoring coordinator: 1 of 15 - Not stated: 7 of 15 6. **The labs on the rack are told of a problem result** (4 of 15 facilities) Each dot is one of the 15 facilities whose procedure we read. Where one way clearly leads at a fork, it is outlined. ## What do facilities send to the lab? The second fork, way by way: what is sampled and sent to the lab. - **Live sentinels** (5 of 15 facilities): Purchased outbred mice or rats live on dirty bedding from the colony cages, then are bled or euthanized and tested. - **Exhaust air dust** (4 of 15 facilities): A filter in the rack's exhaust air, or a swab of the exhaust plenum, goes for PCR. No live sentinels. - **Both, chosen by room** (4 of 15 facilities): Live sentinels beside sentinel-free PCR, chosen by room, rack type or the vet. - **Bedding filters** (2 of 15 facilities): A filter sits in a cage that gets dirty bedding from every colony cage at each change. The filter goes to the lab, not an animal. Each dot is one facility whose procedure we read. Counted from public procedures, October 2026. 7 of 15 test every room quarterly; the rest range from once a year to monthly in a top barrier. 11 of 15 run a routine panel plus a larger one once or twice a year. The vet team gets the lab's results first at 6 of 15. ## What does a health monitoring record hold? How many of 8 facilities' cards, labels and logs carry each field. **Health monitoring sample** (HM). Statuses: Planned, Exposing, Collected, At the lab, Results in, Confirming, Signed off, Closed. Counts are of 8 facilities' forms. **The sample** - Method (Dropdown, required) - Room (Link: Housing Room, required): 7 of 8 - Rack (Text, required): 6 of 8 - Species (Dropdown, required) - Housing type (Dropdown) - PI or lab on the rack (User): 4 of 8 - Strain or line (Text): 2 of 8 - Placed on (Date, required): 4 of 8 - Collect by (Date, required): 2 of 8 **Live sentinels** (opens when the workflow reaches it) - Sentinel cage (Link: SoftMouse cage, required): 4 of 8 - Sentinel animals (Link: SoftMouse animal) - First exposure (Date): 2 of 8 - Replace by (Date) **Exposure log** (opens when the workflow reaches it) - Cage changes (Table): 2 of 8 **Collection and shipment** - Collected on (Date, required): 4 of 8 - Collected by (User, required): 1 of 8 - Sample types (Dropdown, required) - Lab (Dropdown, required) - Panel (Text, required) - Sent on (Date) - Tracking number (Text): 1 of 8 **Results** - Results (Table, required): 1 of 8 - Outcome (Dropdown, required) - Comments (Rich text) **Response** (opens when the workflow reaches it) - Actions (Checklist) - Labs told on (Date) **Sign-off** - Reviewed by (User, required) - Vet signature (Signature, required): 1 of 8 8 of the 15 facilities list what to write on a sentinel card, sample label, collection log or report. The other 7 describe the program without listing items. 7 of 8 record the room and 6 the rack, but 1 of 8 lays out results by agent, method and date. FELASA recommends a report with the agents, methods, lab and at least 18 months of results. 4 of 15 state that a label or result is written twice or more. ## Find your starting point Answer yes or no to find the facilities that work like yours. 1. Do you still buy live sentinel animals and give them dirty bedding from the colony cages? 2. Do you also test some rooms or racks without sentinels, by exhaust dust, bedding filters or swabs of colony animals? 3. Do you test dust from the rack exhaust, with a filter or a swab in the exhaust plenum? - **Live sentinels**: You work like 5 of the 15, the most common way. The sentinel cage links to SoftMouse. - **Exhaust air dust**: You work like 4 of the 15. - **Both, chosen by room**: You work like 4 of the 15. A saved view grouped by method shows which rooms still use sentinels. - **Bedding filters**: You work like 2 of the 15. The exposure log replaces the dated, signed cage card. ## What do the rules ask for? For mice and rats bred for research, the duty comes from the Guide in the US and the CCAC in Canada. - **Animal Welfare Act regulations:** they do not cover mice and rats bred for research (9 CFR 1.1). - **The Guide,** which PHS Policy applies to PHS-funded programs: colony health monitoring for rodents should be in place, by accepted methods, serology first, PCR among the others. If an agent is found, the vet chooses the treatment with the investigator. - **CCAC guidelines (Canada):** health monitoring must be in place, with SOPs that include pathogen surveillance, and programs should choose methods that use fewer sentinel animals. - **FELASA (a recommendation):** dirty-bedding sentinels spend 6 weeks or more in the unit, get at least 50% dirty bedding each week, and are replaced at least every quarter. ## How does Streamcell run it? One record per rack or room for each testing period, whatever goes to the lab. 1. **Exposing**: Priya Sood signs the exposure log at each cage change on the rack where Noor Adler's ISH-1009 mice live. 2. **Collected**: A daily 8:00 check emails Jules Ferreira when the sample is due. Jules collects and ships it. 3. **Results in**: Entering the outcome emails the vet. A first positive moves the record to Confirming, opens the response checklist and posts to Slack. 4. **Signed off**: Robin Mace signs, which locks the results. If a positive is confirmed, Tell the labs on the rack emails Noor's lab. Results arrive from the lab as they do now: someone attaches the lab's PDF and types the outcome. PIs can read results without changing them, so results on request become a saved view. Negative and positive outcomes run as two workflows, because Streamcell has no if-then step. ## The research behind this guide We read the public procedures of 15 research animal facilities in the US and Canada, mostly universities, in October 2026, and recorded what each samples, how often and who sees the results. 8 list what their records hold, so the form's counts are out of 8. ## Start from the *Vet block* Sick animal reports, health cases, rodent health monitoring and the views a vet uses every day, as one package your team changes to fit. [Open the Vet block](https://streamcell.com/library/vet) --- Source: https://streamcell.com/library/rodent-health-monitoring Last reviewed: 2026-10-16 Streamcell is made by Iseehear Inc., 250 University Avenue, Suite 200, Toronto, ON M5H 3E5, Canada. Book a demo: https://streamcell.com/demo