Section V Vertebrate Animal Biosafety Level Criteria for Vivarium Research Facilities

This guidance is provided for the use of experimentally infected animals housed in indoor research facilities (e.g., vivaria), and is also useful in the maintenance of laboratory animals that may naturally harbor zoonotic infectious agents. In both instances, the institutional management must provide facilities, staff, and established practices that reasonably ensure appropriate levels of environmental quality, safety, security and care for laboratory animal. Laboratory animal facilities are a special type of laboratory. As a general principle, the biosafety level (facilities, practices, and operational requirements) recommended for working with infectious agents in vivo and in vitro are comparable. The animal room can present unique problems. In the animal room, the activities of the animals themselves can present unique hazards not found in standard microbiological laboratories. Animals may generate aerosols, they may bite and scratch, and they may be infected with a zoonotic agent. The co-application of Biosafety Levels and the Animal Biosafety Levels are determined by a protocol driven risk assessment. These recommendations presuppose that laboratory animal facilities, operational practices, and quality of animal care meet applicable standards and regulations (e.g.