Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Applied Microbiology logoLink to Applied Microbiology
. 1973 Aug;26(2):167–172. doi: 10.1128/am.26.2.167-172.1973

Mass Airflow Cabinet for Control of Airborne Infection of Laboratory Rodents

Gerard J McGarrity 1, Lewis L Coriell 1
PMCID: PMC379745  PMID: 4355261

Abstract

A mass airflow cabinet for handling and housing of laboratory rodents has been developed and tested. The unit consists of a high-efficiency particulate air filter and uniform distribution of air at a vertical velocity of 19 cm per s. Animals are maintained without bedding in mesh-bottomed cages that rest on rollers for rotation inside the cabinet. There is an air barrier of 90 cm per s separating the cabinet air from room air. Sampling for airborne bacteria yielded an average of 0.03 colony-forming units (CFU) per ft3 of air inside the cabinet, whereas 28.8 CFU per ft3 was simultaneously detected outside the cabinet during housekeeping, a reduction of almost three logs. The efficiency of the air barrier was tested by aerosolization of T3 phage. When phage was aerosolized 5 cm outside the cabinet, no phage could be detected 5 cm inside when the fans were operating; with the fans off an average of 1.6 × 104 plaque-forming units (PFU) per ft3 was detected in six tests. Aerosolization of phage inside the cabinet yielded an average of 9 × 10 PFU per ft3 outside; an average of 4.1 × 106 PFU per ft3 were detected with the fans not in operation, a reduction of more than four logs. In-use studies on effectiveness showed that the cabinet significantly reduced the incidence of mice originally titer-free to Reo-3 virus. Hemagglutination inhibition antibodies to Reo-3 were detected in 9/22 (42%) mice housed in a conventionally ventilated animal laboratory while no seroconversion was detected in any of 22 mice housed in the mass air flow cabinet in the same laboratory.

Full text

PDF
167

Images in this article

168Image
on p.168

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. ANDERSEN A. A. New sampler for the collection, sizing, and enumeration of viable airborne particles. J Bacteriol. 1958 Nov;76(5):471–484. doi: 10.1128/jb.76.5.471-484.1958. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Beall J. R., Torning F. E., Runkle R. S. A laminar flow system for animal maintenance. Lab Anim Sci. 1971 Apr;21(2):206–212. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Coriell L. L., Blakemore W. S., McGarrity G. J. Medical applications of dust-free rooms. II. Elimination of airborne bacteria from an operating theater. JAMA. 1968 Mar 18;203(12):1038–1046. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Coriell L. L., McGarrity G. J. Biohazard hood to prevent infection during microbiological procedures. Appl Microbiol. 1968 Dec;16(12):1895–1900. doi: 10.1128/am.16.12.1895-1900.1968. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Coriell L. L., McGarrity G. J., Horneff J. Medical applications of dust-free rooms. I. Elimination of airborne bacteria in a research laboratory. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1967 Oct;57(10):1824–1836. doi: 10.2105/ajph.57.10.1824. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. McDade J. J., Whitcomb J. G., Rypka E. W., Whitfield W. J., Franklin C. M. Microbiological studies conducted in a vertical laminar airflow surgery. JAMA. 1968 Jan 8;203(2):125–130. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. McGarrity G. J., Coriell L. L. Procedures to reduce contamination of cell cultures. In Vitro. 1971 Jan-Feb;6(4):257–265. doi: 10.1007/BF02625938. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. McGarrity G. J., Coriell L. L., Schaedler R. W., Mandle R. J., Greene A. E. Medical applications of dust-free rooms. 3. Use in an animal care laboratory. Appl Microbiol. 1969 Aug;18(2):142–146. doi: 10.1128/am.18.2.142-146.1969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. PARKER J. C., TENNANT R. W., WARD T. G., ROWE W. P. VIRUS STUDIES WITH GERMFREE MICE. I. PREPARATION OF SEROLOGIC DIAGNOSTIC REAGENTS AND SURVEY OF GERMFREE AND MONOCONTAMINATED MICE FOR INDIGENOUS MURINE VIRUSES. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1965 Mar;34:371–380. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. ROWE W. P. The epidemiology of mouse polyoma virus infection. Bacteriol Rev. 1961 Mar;25:18–31. doi: 10.1128/br.25.1.18-31.1961. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Wedum A. G., Barkley W. E., Hellman A. Handling of infectious agents. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1972 Dec 1;161(11):1557–1567. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. van der Waaij D., Andreas A. H. Prevention of airborne contamination and cross-contamination in germ-free mice by laminar flow. J Hyg (Lond) 1971 Mar;69(1):83–89. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400021276. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES