The purpose of this Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is to outline the information presented during Animal Facility Orientations.

Transcription

1 1.0 Purpose The purpose of this Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is to outline the information presented during Animal Facility Orientations. 2.0 Scope This SOP pertains to all personnel working in the Animal Facilities at MIT and/or WIBR including Animal Care Technicians (ACTs), Area Supervisors, Animal Resource Managers, Veterinary Staff, Research Staff, and MIT Facilities. 3.0 Materials/Equipment Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) MIT/WI ID Lab Animal Users Handbook (LAUH) 4.0 Procedure 4.1 General Information a. The use of animals must be approved by the MIT Committee on Animal Care (CAC). b. New animal users must be added to their Principal Investigator s current protocol via an NPA form. Take a web-based CAC training session and pass the exam. Attend a new user Animal Handling class. Have an orientation for each Animal Facility in which they will be working. c. Investigators who will be working with nonhuman primates (NHPs) must enroll in the MIT Medical Occupational Health Program for Animal Handlers. This must be done prior to any contact with NHPs. d. No personnel are allowed to enter an Animal Facility until they have been added to an approved protocol. You can only enter the Animal Facility once you have been granted access on your MIT/WI ID. Shadowing of other lab members is strictly forbidden. e. All experimentation performed with/on animals must be described in the approved protocol. An addendum to the protocol must be submitted to the CAC office and be approved, before new studies can begin. f. No photo/video documentation is to be taken inside the Animal Facilities without prior approval from DCM. 4.2 Food and Drink No food or drink intended for human consumption is allowed in the animal facilities. 4.3 Gowning a. No shorts or open toe shoes are allowed in the facility. Page 1 of 8

2 b. No perfume, cologne, or scented lotion should be worn when you will be working with animals. Many of these are musk-based scents that can adversely affect your research animals, especially prey-species such as rodents. c. To enter the animal facility you must wear blue shoe covers, a lab coat (white disposable or colored cloth), and bouffant head cover. Cloth lab coats should be worn when available. There are bins near the gowning area to place these when you are finished. Disposable lab coats are also available at the gowning stations. These should be used if cloth lab coats are not available. d. Gloves are required when handling animals or caging. Double gloves are required when working with NHPs. e. Face masks, safety glasses/ goggles/ face shield are required when working with, or in the vicinity of, NHPs. This includes while you are in the animal rooms, transporting primates to the lab, and working with them in lab spaces. f. Face masks are recommended when working with rodents and other species since use may decrease the risk for developing allergies. 4.4 Traffic Patterns a. Building entry orders must be followed. b. All facilities have a room entry order, which will be posted at the entrance to the facility and/or on the animal room doors. Cubicle rooms may also have a specific cubicle entry order posted. This entry order must be followed at all times. It is never ok to backtrack from dirty to clean. If you have animals in more than one facility it is recommended that you work in separate facilities on different days. If you must enter a clean facility after entering a dirtier one, a shower and a change of clothes is required. c. In animal facilities that have a clean/dirty corridor system, general traffic is conducted in the dirty/working corridor with people entering and exiting animal rooms through this corridor. d. The clean corridor is restricted to DCM staff only. 4.5 Clean Cagewash Room The cleanest area in the animal facility, restricted to DCM staff. 4.6 Dirty Cagewash Room a. The dirtiest area in the animal facility, restricted to DCM staff. b. All cage supplies are processed through this room, including caging from quarantine rooms. Page 2 of 8

3 4.7 Cage Supplies a. Vinyl-covered clean cage supply stations are located throughout the facility in the main traffic corridor. b. Always use clean gloves when taking supplies from supply stations. c. Clean carts are supplied outside the clean cage wash rooms and should not be reused. d. Clean cage supplies are not to be stored in conventional animal rooms. Exceptions may be made for barrier, containment, and quarantine rooms. e. Once caging is removed from the supply station, or clean cage wash room, and brought into an animal room it must not be returned to the supply station. 4.8 Dirty Cages a. Dirty cages must be covered and removed from conventional animal rooms/cubicles. b. The dirty cages must be placed either on a designated dirty cage cart or just inside the door to the dirty cagewash room. c. Leave all dirty caging inside quarantine rooms/cubicles, DCM will remove them. d. All caging must be covered. e. Dirty push carts must be left by the dirty cage wash room. f. Push carts must never be taken from the dirty cage wash area for use in the facility. 4.9 Animal Holding Rooms/Cubicles a. Animal facilities contain holding rooms of mixed health status. b. Always work with clean animals first and animals in quarantine or containment last. Never enter a clean animal room/cubicle after working in a quarantine or containment area. If breeding schemes and experiments conflict with the order in which you need to enter rooms, contact DCM for assistance. c. Needles and syringes cannot be stored in animal rooms. They must locked up when not in use. Used uncapped needles and syringes must be disposed of in Sharps containers. Never recap needles. DO NOT overfill the Sharps containers. If they are ¾ full, close the Sharps container and notify the DCM staff. New containers can be obtained from the DCM staff. d. NEVER put broken glass into the trash cans. Notify the DCM staff, who will properly box the glass as Sharps waste. e. Animal rooms must be kept free of clutter. Pens, cage cards, and other supplies can be stored neatly in an empty clean mouse cage with a micro-isolator top. f. Each animal room is provided with a dedicated: Supply of food Quatricide disinfectant cleaner Trash can Broom and dustpan Page 3 of 8

4 Mop g. In order to prevent cross-contamination, all items are assigned to each room and must remain in that dedicated space. h. Use the carts, tabletops, and hoods within the room as work surfaces. Always disinfect the work area with Quatricide PV before and after work so that you aren t relying on how well the previous person working in that area cleaned the workspace. Never use floors as workspaces. i. Rodent cage racks are numbered (e.g., #1 front, #1 back, etc.) to facilitate identification of cage location. j. Standard light cycles in animal rooms must be respected in order to avoid breeding disruption. This is most important when you are sharing animal housing space with other researchers. If you must work in a room after the lights have been turned off, use the override light timer and make sure that the lights are turned off after you are finished in the room. It is best to do all animal work between 7 am and 7 pm Quarantine and Containment Rooms a. Always work in these rooms last. b. PPE required for these rooms consist of a blue disposable lab coat or coverall and white booties. The colors are different than the conventional lab coats and shoe covers in an effort to help people remember the added precautions needed in quarantine/containment. c. Before entering the room: Put on a pair of white shoe covers over the conventional blue shoe covers. Put on a hair cover, mask, and gloves. Take a blue lab coat from the supply cart, or use a lab coat previously hung just inside the room/cubicle. d. When you are finished working in the quarantine/containment area: Take off your lab coat at the door and discard it or hang it on the hook. Discard the mask, hair cover, and gloves. As you cross the threshold to exit the room, remove the top pair of shoe covers (white) as you step into the corridor. If you are in a quarantine/containment corridor, change your shoe covers again as you step over into the cleaner corridor. e. Access to containment areas will not be granted until hazmat training has been completed. Personnel must be CAC certified listed on an approved CAC protocol before DCM s Hazards Coordinator will schedule an orientation. UROPs will not be granted access to containment areas Procedure Rooms a. Most procedure rooms contain slotted vent hoods or ducted Biosafety Cabinets (BSCs) where inhalation anesthetics can be safely used. Page 4 of 8

5 Anesthesia machines are DCMs preferred mode of anesthetic dosing, however inhalant anesthetic in a bell jar may be used in slotted vent hoods or ducted BSCs. Jars must be vented when work is complete in order to safely eliminate any excess anesthetic. Gauze soaked with inhalation anesthetics must be vented and completely dry before being discarded in the trash. Bell jars must be cleaned with Quatricide after every use. b. Anesthesia machines must be used in spaces where neither of these options is available. Anesthesia machines are provided in all DCM Animal Facilities. Training from DCM staff is required prior to using these machines. Please contact DCM veterinary staff if you need training or assistance. For new personnel, this training will be included in new user training classes. c. Carbon dioxide rodent euthanasia chambers are provided in all procedure rooms. Follow the posted guidelines or ask DCM for assistance if you are unfamiliar with humane euthanasia procedures. Do not tie off spring loaded gas handles in order to keep them open you are required to be present during the entire euthanasia process. Place dead animals in small plastic bags, tie securely, and deposit in the carcass refrigerator or freezer. Turn off the CO 2 when done. Clean the euthanasia chamber thoroughly with Quatricide PV after each use. d. Remember that neonates (< 10 days old) need extra time in the euthanasia chamber and must be decapitated or have their thorax cut open to ensure proper euthanasia. Never leave neonates or pups in a cage without their mother. If you need assistance with euthanizing neonates, contact DCM to perform this service. e. DO NOT leave animal carcasses in cages, the CO 2 chamber, the procedure rooms, animal holding rooms, or on the floor. f. Quarantine/containment rooms have their own designated procedure space. Do not bring animals from these rooms into the common procedure rooms Colony Oversight a. Rodent housing guidelines are described in the LAUH. Generally five adult mice are allowed in a small cage, and ten adult mice in a large cage. b. Investigators are required to check their animals at least once every 7 days, preferably daily, in order to keep up with weaning and health monitoring. c. Investigators that are implementing studies with associated illness and morbidity must monitor their colonies daily. d. Arrange to have someone from your lab monitor your colony if you plan to be away, or are leaving the institution. e. DCM must be notified of alternate contact personnel. Page 5 of 8

6 and cell phone are preferred. f. Please contact DCM if you need additional help with colony management Gift Animals a. Investigators wishing to receive animals from an institution outside of MIT are required to fill out an Atypical Vendor Form and submit it to the DCM Administrative Department located in b. All gift animals must have veterinary approval and will be received into a quarantine facility. c. Rodents are rederived into the main facilities per investigator request. d. Special Pilot studies can be done in quarantine if prearranged with DCM Veterinary staff, and if space allows. e. Additional information can be found in SOP GF-8 Receipt and Use of Gift Rodents Animal Shipments a. The 68N Animal Facility can only receive mice from Taconic, certain Jackson Lab barriers, or those that have gone through the gift animal program and been rederived. b. Rats and mice purchased from Jackson and Charles River production colonies can be housed in various facilities on campus. c. Mice arriving from research colonies maintained by Taconic, Jackson Labs, and Charles River may undergo second-stage quarantine, based upon health status history and at the discretion of the Clinical Resource Veterinarian. These mice undergo screening for an abbreviated panel of mouse viruses and parasites before release into established rodent colonies. d. DCM will provide guidance for approved vendor sources of other species. e. Research staff is responsible for unpacking the animals in most facilities unless a request has been made for DCM staff to unpack them. A dedicated rack is set aside in each facility for incoming shipments Moving Research Animals a. Animal moves between facilities or between investigators must have veterinary approval. b. Animal moves of cages belonging to the same investigator between holding rooms in the same facility, or from facility to facility, must be coordinated through DCM in order to ensure maintained health status. c. Rodent transfer requests must be made via to Kris Hewes (khewes@mit.edu) in Orange DCM Animal Transfer cards must be filled out completely and placed on all the cages to be moved. DCM will move the cages after receiving veterinary approval. Census sheets will be adjusted once the transfer is complete. d. Cages of rodents being taken to a lab for processing must leave the facility in a micro-isolator cage placed inside of a black plastic bag so that the cage is not visible. Water bottles must be removed or flipped during transport, and re-flipped or a new bottle placed upon arrival at the lab. Page 6 of 8

7 Once rodents are taken out of the Animal Facility they may not re-enter except in certain instances approved by DCM s Veterinary Staff. e. NHPs being moved to the labs in building 46 must have their transport chairs covered completely with cloth/paper drapes or large black plastic bags. A lab coat, latex gloves, and bouffant hair cover must be worn by personnel while transporting NHPs. Face masks, safety glasses or goggles, and/or a face shield are required when working within five feet of NHPs. Follow the designated route to the freight elevator. (The passenger elevator should not be used for animal transport.) NHP cage must be kept locked, After returning a NHP to its cage, all locks should be checked to make sure they are secure Rodent Surveillance Program a. DCM places sentinel animals in every conventional rodent room for health monitoring purposes. Never touch these mice or the sentinel cage Communication a. DCM uses various cards and forms to organize communications regarding colony status with investigators, veterinary, and technical staff. b. A clipboard on the outside of each animal room door contains several information sheets. Animal Health Monitoring Sheet any activity within the room is recorded on this sheet (i.e. overcrowded cages, sick animals needing veterinary care, animal deaths, euthanasia dates, etc.) Husbandry Record Sheet daily heath checks, environmental statistics, and husbandry activities are recorded on this sheet. Census Sheet cage counts are updated by ACTs on a weekly basis. Investigators must update the census sheets as they add or remove cages. c. Investigators are required to post the following information on each animal cage, or rack if appropriate: Principal Investigator Contact Person and phone number (DCM strongly recommends listing your cell phone number) CAC Protocol number Account number d. Cage cards with this information pre-printed can be ordered through DCM at no charge. Contact Cheryl Buccieri at or cbuccie@mit.edu. e. DCM has a system of cage cards that are used for a variety of circumstances (health monitoring, surgery, overcrowding, euthanasia, special food/water, etc). These are available in prominent locations in every Animal Facility. Page 7 of 8

8 Please reference SOP AH-7 Cage Card System for the current listing of cage cards and descriptions for each Special Circumstances a. Investigators are encouraged to communicate special needs through the Veterinary and Management staff in order to accommodate and expedite research and husbandry needs. b. These may include, but are not limited to: Research that would be compromised by antibiotic treatment Special water and diets Irradiation studies Breeding sensitive strains such as Mus spretus Unconventional housing such as SCID autoclaved caging Use of bio-hazardous agents 4.19 Contacts for Veterinary-related Issues Dr. Susan Erdman, DVM - Chief of Clinical Services, , serdman@mit.edu, Kris Hewes -Coordinator of Veterinary Technical Services, , khewes@mit.edu, Nate Rogers Coordinator of Media and Investigator Training, , nrogers@mite.du, Abigail Scherer-Hoock Coordinator of Colony Managers, , ascherer@mit.edu, Dr. Bob Marini, DVM Chief of Surgical Resources, , rmarini@mit.edu, Dr. Mary Patterson, DVM Chief of Primate Resources and Hazards Coordinator, , mmpatt@mit.edu, Revision History Revision Number Date Revised Reason for Revision 1 December 2013 New SOP format Reviewed By: Facilities Team Signature: EMH Date: 12/3/ Review History Review Number Date Reviewed Reason for Review 1 December 2013 New SOP format Reviewed By: Facilities Team Signature: EMH Date: 12/3/2013 Page 8 of 8