Microbiological contamination of laboratory rabbits in Korea

Abstract

In order to minimize the variation that can affect on research using laboratory animals, many factors should be considered and controlled. Among them, microbiological quality control is one of the most important factors. Laboratory rabbit have been used extensively in a variety of biomedical research in Korea. However, microbiological status about rabbits has not been studied. In this project, we investigated the prevalence of microbes in laboratory rabbits bred from 5 commercial breeders in Korea. In conventional New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits examined, the most important virus identified was rabbit rotavirus, and the most popular bacteria identified were Bordetella bronchiseptica, Cilia associated respiratory bacillus and Pasteurella spp. And the most common parasites isolated were Encephalitozoon cuniculi and Eimeria spp. In addition, Dermatophytes, a zoonotic pathogen, was detected in conventional NZW rabbit. These results suggest that health monitoring of conventional rabbits should be performed regularly to increase the microbiological quality of laboratory rabbits in Korea.