Rat Respiratory Virus (RRV) Status to be Included on all Health Reports for North American and European Rat Production Colonies
May 6, 2010 – On May 14, 2010, Charles River will begin reporting rat respiratory virus (RRV) on all North American and European rat production area health reports. Based on comprehensive screening, all rat strains produced worldwide by Charles River are free from RRV.
What is Rat Respiratory Virus?
The novel respiratory pathogen RRV is common in laboratory rats in North America, Europe and Asia, and is one of the most frequently reported rat infectious agents found in animals bred at customer sites. For further information, please contact us at askcharlesriver@crl.com to obtain a copy of the article titled, “Histopathology of Naturally Transmitted ’Rat Respiratory Virus’: Progression of Lesions and Proposed Diagnostic Criteria” (Veterinary Pathology, 46:5, 2009).
Charles River Production Area Testing
Currently, there is no serologic or molecular method to diagnose this agent, and screening for RRV infection is only possible by pulmonary histopathology for the characteristic lesions. All Charles River rat colonies are screened quarterly for RRV via histopathology; up-to-date health reports can be accessed on our Health Reports page. Detection of RRV within any Charles River rat production area would be reported on our website and that production area would be recycled as soon as it could be practically scheduled (i.e., a planned recycle of the affected area).
RRV Screening for Research Animal Colonies
To screen rats from your facility, lung samples should be collected from sentinel or resident animals. Formalin-fixed lungs or whole animals can be submitted to Charles River Research Animal Diagnostic Services for RRV histopathology; RRV will continue to be included in all comprehensive rat health monitoring (HM) protocols. Please click here for sample submission information.
Upcoming Educational Webinar
We invite you to join us for a complimentary webinar focused on RRV that will be held on June 3, 2010, at 11am EDT. This webinar will touch on the history of RRV, potential effects on research and the use of histopathology in RRV surveillance. If you would like to attend, please click here to register.
Charles River is committed to exceeding your expectations for high-quality research animals of the strictest health standards. If you would like to discuss this announcement further or discuss RRV in general with a member of our scientific or technical staff, please contact us at askcharlesriver@crl.com.
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