4.4. Laboratory Animals (mice and rats)

Risk of transmission of infection when working with animals (mice and rats)

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Infectious agents can be transmitted by skin damage, via respiratory tract, by aerosols that may arise, for example, by cleaning cages or the animals’ own activity. Infection can also be transmitted through surgery and dissections.
Possible exposure hazards:
Development of allergy to laboratory animals.
Zoonoses (infectious diseases that may be latent in the animal, some of which may be very dangerous to humans).
Injection of agents that should have been injected into the animal, such as cancer cells, cytostatics, other forms of treatment).

 

Vaccination

It is required that those working with laboratory animals should be vaccinated against tetanus. See here for more information.

 

Useful links:

See here for more information on infections.

See here for more information about how to work with laboratory animals at the institute.