Survey on the Current Status of Laboratory Animal Quality Control Program in Korea

It is critical to harmonize the laboratory animal quality control program of each organization in order to improve the quality of laboratory animals. The aim of this study was to survey the current status of the laboratory animal quality control of 6 major animal suppliers and 14 Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) organizations. First of all, 6 suppliers provided more than 3 million animals, and 99% of them were specific pathogen-free (SPF) mice and rats. 88% of the GLP organizations were also using SPF animals, 81% of which were mice and rats. Two suppliers importing and offering animals were depending on the animal health report certified by providers, 2 suppliers were outsourcing to a domestic monitoring center, and 2 suppliers were monitoring in-house and simultaneously sending live animals to international centers for microbiological monitoring. All suppliers were monitoring the genetic integrity of inbred animals only once in a year. Fifty seven percentage of GLP organizations were doing the in-house microbiological monitoring, and only one of them was evaluating the genetic background of animals. Four suppliers monitoring animal quality were applying more than 5 samples of each animal facility unit quarterly. Fifty five percentage of GLP organizations monitored with each facility unit and 36% of them chose samples in the experimental group. Additionally, the animal number used in monitoring was 3-5, and monitoring frequency was 4 times in a year. Two suppliers sending animals to foreign companies for monitoring adopted almost all agents as testing items. Two suppliers were testing critical items including Ectromelia virus, Sendai virus, Mouse Hepatitis virus, Hantaan virus, Rat Coronavirus, Minute virus of mice, M. pulmonis, C. piliforme, and H. hepaticus. It were only 5 microoragnisms, MHV, Sendai virus, M. pulmonis, C. piliforme, and Ectoparasites which more than half of GLP organizations were monitoring commonly. Almost all organizations had their own SOPs for animal health monitoring and required a nationally harmonized guideline on the laboratory animal quality control. The result of this survey will be basic information on the national policy of the management of laboratory animal quality, and contribute to the improvement of laboratory animal quality in Korea.