AVMA ABVS-recognised specialty boards · USA · AVMA American Board of Veterinary Specialties; each college runs its own exams
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersBiology, housing and health monitoring of laboratory animals, their common diseases, the 3Rs, ethics committees and experimental techniques.
In the exams: EAEVE Day One competence on the 3Rs; ACLAM and ECLAM specialist colleges
How our questions for AVMA ABVS-recognised specialty boards spread across the units of Laboratory Animal Science & Medicine. Difficulty: 2 easy, 19 medium, 25 hard.
| Experimental techniques | 7 | |
| Biology of laboratory species | 6 | |
| Health monitoring | 6 | |
| Housing of laboratory animals | 5 | |
| The 3Rs: replacement, reduction and refinement | 5 | |
| Animal ethics committees: CPCSEA, IACUC and EU Directive 2010/63 | 5 | |
| Tyzzer's disease | 4 | |
| Murine respiratory mycoplasmosis | 4 | |
| Pasteurellosis | 4 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
Two laboratories report different glucose tolerance results in 'C57BL/6' mice. One used C57BL/6J and the other C57BL/6N. Which known genetic difference could explain this?
C. C57BL/6J carries a deletion in the nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase gene, Nnt
C57BL/6J carries an Nnt deletion that affects mitochondrial function and insulin secretion; C57BL/6N colonies often carry Crb1 rd8 instead. Both are inbred substrains, not outbred stocks, and neither carries ob or Foxn1 mutations. This is why the substrain code must always be reported.
Further reading: Mouse Genome Informatics nomenclature and strain notes
An IVC rack for mice that carry a transmissible allergen-heavy phenotype is to be run so that staff and the room are protected from the animals. How should it be set?
D. At negative pressure relative to the room, with cages opened only in a cabinet
Negative-pressure IVCs draw air into the cage so leaks go inward, protecting the room and staff; opening cages in a ventilated cabinet completes the protection. Positive pressure protects the animals, not the people, and returning exhaust to the room defeats the purpose.
Further reading: NRC Guide, 8th ed.; IVC literature
Which monitoring method samples material from the exhaust plenum of an individually ventilated cage rack and tests it by PCR?
C. Exhaust air dust testing
Exhaust air dust testing uses swabs or filter media from the rack exhaust and PCR; it detects some agents missed by bedding sentinels and can reduce the number of sentinel animals. Soiled-bedding and contact sentinels are live animals; colony serology tests the colony animals' blood.
Further reading: Exhaust air dust monitoring literature
At necropsy of a young rat that died after brief diarrhoea, the terminal ileum is markedly dilated, flaccid and hyperaemic, and the liver has scattered pale foci. What is this intestinal lesion called and what is the likely cause?
D. Megaloileitis due to Clostridium piliforme
Megaloileitis with multifocal hepatic necrosis is the rat presentation of Tyzzer's disease. Proliferative ileitis is a thickened, not flaccid, ileum mainly in hamsters; Helicobacter and Citrobacter affect the caecum and colon and do not cause this liver picture with ileal dilation.
Further reading: Barthold et al., Pathology of Laboratory Rodents and Rabbits
Which of these infectious agents is a recognised cofactor that worsens murine respiratory mycoplasmosis?
C. Filobacterium rodentium, the cilia-associated respiratory bacillus
The CAR bacillus colonises the same ciliated airway surfaces and, with Sendai virus and rat coronaviruses, aggravates MRM. Syphacia is a pinworm, E. cuniculi a rabbit microsporidian and Eimeria stiedae causes hepatic coccidiosis in rabbits.
Further reading: Barthold et al., Pathology of Laboratory Rodents and Rabbits
A rabbit seropositive by ELISA for Pasteurella multocida is clinically normal. How should the result be interpreted?
A. It shows exposure, not necessarily current disease; the rabbit could be a carrier
Serology detects exposure and is used to screen colonies and select seronegative stock, but a seropositive animal may be a healthy carrier. Oral ampicillin is contraindicated in rabbits because it causes enterotoxaemia, and antibody does not prevent carriage.
Further reading: Fox et al., Laboratory Animal Medicine
The organism long called Pasteurella pneumotropica, an opportunist in mice and rats, has been reclassified. What is it now called, and where does it cause the most disease?
B. Rodentibacter pneumotropicus; mainly in immunodeficient mice
In 2017 P. pneumotropica was moved to the new genus Rodentibacter (R. pneumotropicus and R. heylii). It causes conjunctivitis, abscesses, mastitis and pneumonia mainly in immunodeficient mice. Filobacterium rodentium is the CAR bacillus, a different organism.
Further reading: Adhikary et al., 2017; FELASA recommendations
Which in vitro method can replace the rabbit pyrogen test and also detects pyrogens other than bacterial endotoxin?
B. The monocyte activation test
The monocyte activation test uses human monocytes to detect endotoxin and non-endotoxin pyrogens. The amoebocyte lysate test detects endotoxin only; the LLNA is a skin sensitisation test in mice; BCOP is an eye irritation method.
Further reading: European Pharmacopoeia; EURL ECVAM
Which blood sampling method in rodents requires general anaesthesia and is restricted or discouraged in many establishments?
B. Retro-orbital sinus or plexus sampling
Retro-orbital sampling requires anaesthesia and risks injury to the eye and orbit, so many establishments restrict it. Saphenous, tail and submandibular veins are conscious recovery sites when performed by trained staff.
Further reading: Diehl et al., 2001; NC3Rs blood sampling guidance
AVMA guidance for euthanasia of rodents with carbon dioxide recommends a gradual fill at 30-70% of the chamber volume per minute. What flow range is that for a 15-litre chamber?
D. 4.5 to 10.5 L/min
15 L x 0.30 = 4.5 L/min and 15 L x 0.70 = 10.5 L/min. 30 to 70 L/min confuses percentage with litres; 0.3 to 0.7 L/min forgets the chamber volume; 2 to 5 L/min starts well below the 4.5 L/min minimum and stops at the bottom of the range.
Further reading: AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals, 2020
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