BSL-2 housing now available for influenza studies in ferrets and rodents
Includes the capability to conduct study procedures under BSL-2 containment
Charles River Laboratories now has BSL-2 housing (i.e. individually-ventilated BSL-2 caging) available for the conduct of short- and long-term influenza studies in ferrets and rodents; this includes the capability to conduct study procedures under BSL-2 containment. Hemagglutination Assay (HA), Hemagglutination Inhibition Assay (HAI) and EID50 (Embryo Infectious Dosage) testing can also be conducted on samples generated during influenza studies.
We have extensive experience in conducting in vivo vaccine studies in mammalian species using live and inactivated pathogens. Influenza studies are commonly conducted in several mammalian species including ferrets, rabbits and mice. The immune response in mice following influenza infection has been very well characterised. Ferrets are also widely recognised as a relevant species for the conduct of influenza virus challenge studies as they can be naturally infected with human influenza isolates and they exhibit a similar course of disease as seen in humans.
Manufacturing support
In addition to in vivo studies, classical influenza type A and B viruses are available and ready to ship for your research needs. These strains are offered as crude infected allantoic fluid from Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) chicken embryos or sucrose gradient purified. We can also expand customer supplied enhanced BSL-2 seeds using our SPF chicken embryos in our USDA licensed facility. Serial dilutions can be run to determine the proper dilution to maximise titers and volumes from 100ml of allantoic fluid to hundreds of liters can be produced.
Additional available services include:
- Sucrose gradient purification for prep sizes from 20mg to gram size batches
- HA solubilisation using detergents
- HA and EID50 tests with chicken red blood cells or using guinea pig red blood cells as needed for more recent vaccine strains
- HI testing of mouse serum for A/PR/8/34
- SPF eggs for propagation of human influenza strains
