Housing condition

Some of the remedial measures tested in this study were not regarded as likely to form part of a long-term control stategy. For example, the installation of a mechanical ventilation system, with a heat recovery unit, would not be used in a dwelling of this type, because of the very high installation cost. Nevertheless, the availability of the dwelling enabled devices to be tested under real housing conditions, rather than in the laboratory. 

For an assessment of environmental indicators, the biological or health-related aspects of animal welfare will be taken into consideration. Most indicators of animal welfare reflect relatively specific problems, measuring different components of welfare rather than welfare per se. Some of the parameters that may serve to describe the indicator animal welfare are immune problems, occurrence of disease, reduced productivity, mortality, physiological stress and behavioural deprivation. These parameters are influenced by animal husbandry issues such as housing conditions, breeding goals, and health measures, i.e. veterinary medicine. These factors are the subject of the following sections. 

The wording cited above from the Guidance Document is selected very carefully and there is not too much to add. Generally, historical control data should be collected and adequately documented in each laboratory, and their usefulness is selftevident. For exceptional cases like very rare malformations even the use of historical control data from other laboratories may be appropriate (these are most unlikely to be caused by specific housing conditions). However, a clear and unequivocal study will always be one which exclusively refers to current control data. If this is not the case, then the use of historical control data may help clarifying open questions, but the study will normally be classified as grey zone. ... 

Historically, transmission has occurred predominantly in rural areas of Latin America, where poor housing conditions have promoted contact with infected vectors. Successful programs to reduce vector- and blood-borne transmission, as well as migration within and beyond endemic countries, have changed the epidemiology of the disease. Bern et al. (2007) present an estimate that 100,000 infected persons live in the... 

Stringent control of environment conditions and proper animal care techniques are mandatory for meaningful results. As part of such control, access to animal facilities should be monitored to prevent excessive traffic and other disturbances. Factors such as housing conditions, intercurrent disease, drug therapy, impurities in diet, air, water, and bedding can significantly influence the outcome of experiments. 

El Saeid, H.M. (1995) Chemical composition of sweet and hot pepper fruits grown under plastic house conditions. Egyptian Journal of Horticulture 22(1), 11-1 8. 

Boot R, Leussink AB, Vlug RF. Influence of housing conditions on pregnancy outcome in cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). Lab Animals 1985 19(l) 42-7. 

The longer term toxicology studies have to be conducted under special housing condition. For rodents, the room temperature should be in the range of 22 °C and ahumidity of about 55 %. In non-rodents (e.g. dog) the study must not be conducted in strictly controlled animal rooms, however, the room temperature should not be lower than 18 °C. In Europe, especially in Germany, a dog must have access to open runs at least for 6 hours per day. 

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