Description of the Facility
Floor Design
The LARU is organized in a double corridor manner with access to the animal rooms and surgery through a “clean” corridor and egress through the “dirty” corridor.
Description of the Animal Unit
Laboratory Animal Resources Unit
This area provides housing for the laboratory animals which are used in instruction and research. The mammalian laboratory animals are housed as colonies in stainless steel racks located in l0 x l2 rooms. The HVAC system provides complete conditioned air exchanges at the rate of l5 times each hour. Duration and intensity of light may be controlled for experimental purposes or to meet particular requirements of the animal species. Animals are fed by hand, sometimes with specialty rations which are formulated in the diet kitchen.
Rules for Entering and Leaving
Access to LARU is restricted to authorized personnel. This is for the health and safety of the animals and personnel as well as to maintain the integrity of the research that is underway.
The animal rooms are designed for one-way traffic – entry is from a “clean” corridor and exit is into the “dirty” corridor. This reduces the chance of contamination by the transmission of dirt or disease from one room to another. All personnel accessing the clean corridor must first don proper attire and step into a shoe bath to prevent the introduction of contaminants from the outside environment. Once exiting the clean corridor or an animal room, reentry can only be accomplished by repeating the shoe bath.
