A primary fibroblast cells from embryos of brown quail Coturnixypsilophora has been established and partially characterized. The cells were maintained in Modified Eagle’s medium (MEM) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. The cells were able to grow at temperatures between 35°C and 38°C with optimum temperature of 37°C. The growth rate of primary quail fibroblast cells increased as the FBS proportion increased from 5% to 20% at 37°C with optimum growth at the concentrations of 10% or 15% FBS. The cells showed no microbial contamination throughout the period of experiment and the total chromosome number of a diploid cell was 78, according to karyotyping and chromosome analysis. The susceptibility of quail primary cells for avian viruses was investigated in this study after inoculation with ND and IB viruses. Both viruses showed a satisfactory CPE development and the infectivity were assayed by virus titration (TCID50). This suggests that the quail primary cells can be used for isolation of various avian viruses with further steps of infectivity confirmation in the future.

This paper reports on the laboratory animal population in the
Laboratory Animal Unit, Veterinary Research Institute (VRI), Ipoh from 2005 to 2010. Laboratory Animal Unit is a complementary unit which serves to supply laboratory animals to all diagnostic and research units in VRI. The objective of this unit is to breed and produce laboratory animals such as rabbits, mice, rats, guinea
pigs and hamsters for research projects as well as diagnostic and biological activities. The unit also supplies laboratory animals to
private agencies, universities and schools. There are 6 species of laboratory animals in VRI namely rabbit (New Zealand Breed), guinea pig (Hartlay Strain), hamster (Golden Syrian), white mice (Swiss Albino), BALB/c mice and Sprague Dawley Rat. Management of the animals includes breeding, fertility, production and disease monitoring. Generally, white mice bred well and had a high population
from 2005 to 2010 compared to the other laboratory animals due to their short gestation period and large litter size. With the higher current demand for laboratory animals, the production of the unit is
expected to increase.