Recommendations for the health monitoring of rodent and rabbit colonies in breeding and experimental units.

These recommendations are primarily intended to standardize health monitoring programmes and reporting. In this way they may also help to standardize the microbiological quality of animals. However, it is not a requirement of these recommendations that animals tested are free from all of the microorganisms listed. Health monitoring is a complex issue. Therefore, it is recommended that a person with suf®cient understanding of the principles of health monitoring (FELASA Category D, Nevalainen e t a l. 1999 ) be identi®ed as the individual responsible for devising and maintaining a health monitoring policy for the facility. It should be noted that health monitoring is not con®ned to laboratory reporting. There should also be engendered a culture of communication between animal technicians, facility managers, veterinarians and researchers so that observed abnormalities in breeding animals and experimental data can rapidly be evaluated and appropriate action taken. Animals that are standardized as much as possible are important prerequisites for reproducible animal experiments. WORKING PARTY REPORT