Taconic Biosciences® has developed clear and harmonized health standards to meet specific research requirements. Our health standards are defined by exclusion lists, husbandry practices, and testing methods and frequency. The standards can be grouped into barrier standards (with exclusion lists) and gnotobiotic isolator standards (in which all organisms in a location are known). A core list of rodent pathogens is excluded from all Taconic health standards. These health standards range from the most stringent health standard, Taconic germ-free (GF), to Taconic murine pathogen-free (MPF) where a select list of opportunistic bacteria are tolerated.
Health Standards
Taconic's elevated health standards keep pathogens out of your lab!
Learn how our programs detect pathogens, including C. bovis, before they can derail your research program.
Portfolio Spotlight: Standard Immunodeficients | A broad portfolio of models and an ecosystem of scientific expertise bring you the best solution.
Need help choosing the right Taconic Biosciences health standard for your research?
Use the health standard selector to enter your exclusion list. The tool will tell you which health standards meet your requirements.
| Agents | Murine Pathogen Free™ (MPF™) | Restricted Flora™ (RF™) | Opportunist Free™ (OF™) | Defined Flora (DF) | Germ Free (GF) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microorganisms | Accepted? | Accepted? | Accepted? | Accepted? | Accepted? |
Commensal Microflora | |||||
| Altered Schaedler Flora | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Dimorphic Yeast | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mold | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Aerobic spore forming bacteria | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Anaerobic spore forming bacteria | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Non-spore forming rod bacteria | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Cocci bacteria | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Viruses | |||||
| Kilham Rat Virus (KRV) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Minute Virus of Mice (MVM) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Mouse Encephalomyelitis Virus (TMEV/GDVII)/ Rat Theilovirus (RTV) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Mouse Hepatitis Virus (MHV) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Murine Norovirus (MNV) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Mouse Parvovirus (MPV) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Mouse Rotavirus (EDIM) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Pneumonia Virus of Mice (PVM) | No | No | No | No | N |
Rat Coronavirus (RCV)/Sialodacryoadenitis Virus (SDAV) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Rat Minute Virus (RMV) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Rat Parvovirus (RPV) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Rat Polyomavirus 2 (RPyV2) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Rat Rotavirus (IDIR) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Toolan's H1 Virus (TH1) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Ectromelia Virus | No | No | No | No | No |
| Hantaan Virus | No | No | No | No | No |
| K Virus | No | No | No | No | No |
| Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus (LCM) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Mouse Adenovirus I and II (FL and K87) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Mouse Cytomegalovirus (MCMV) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Mouse Kidney Parvovirus (MKPV) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Polyoma Virus (mouse) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Reovirus (Reo 3) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Sendai Virus | No | No | No | No | No |
| Thymic Virus | No | No | No | No | No |
| Lactate Dehydrogenase Elevating Virus (LDHV) | No | No | No | No | No |
Bacteria, mycoplasma, fungi | |||||
| Beta hemolytic Streptococcus (non Group D) | Yes | No1 | No1 | No | No |
| Bordetella bronchiseptica | No | No | No | No | No |
| Citrobacter rodentium | No | No | No | No | No |
| Clostridium piliforme | No | No | No | No | No |
| Corynebacterium bovis | No | No | No | No | No |
| Corynebacterium kutscheri | No | No | No | No | No |
| Dermatophytes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Filobacterium rodentium (CAR Bacillus) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Helicobacter spp. | No | No | No | No | No |
| Klebsiella oxytoca | Yes | No1 | No1 | No | No |
| Klebsiella pneumoniae | Yes | No1 | No1 | No | No |
| Mycoplasma pulmonis | No | No | No | No | No |
| Pasteurella multocida | No | No1 | No1 | No | No |
| Pneumocystis spp. | No | No | No | No | No |
| Proteus spp. | Yes | Yes | No1 | No | No |
| Pseudomonas aeruginosa | Yes | No1 | No1 | No | No |
| Rodentibacter heylii | No | No | No | No | No |
| Rodentibacter pneumotropicus | No | No | No | No | No |
| Salmonella spp. | No | No | No | No | No |
| Staphylococcus aureus | Yes | No1 | No1 | No | No |
| Streptococcus pneumoniae | No | No | No | No | No |
| Streptobacillus moniliformis | No | No | No | No | No |
Parasites (see additional information below) | |||||
| Endoparasites | No | No | No | No | No |
| ↳ Encephalitozoon cuniculi | No | No | No | No | No |
| Ectoparasites | No | No | No | No | No |
| Enteric Helminths | No | No | No | No | No |
1. When detected, this organism will be eliminated from the Barrier Unit via a test and cull procedure or recycling of the colony.
Additional Information on Parasite Testing
Taconic excludes all parasites at all Health Standards. We perform testing for parasites using a range of diagnostic methods, including microscopy, fecal flotation, MFI, and PCR.
For health reporting purposes, we list parasite results on our health reports under broad classes (endoparasites, ectoparasites, and enteric helminths) due to our testing methodology being designed to detect all parasites. Below is a non-exhaustive list of some of the parasites detected by our testing methodology and how they would be reported on health reports:
| Parasites | Classification |
|---|---|
| Aspiculuris tetraptera | Enteric Helminths |
| Chilomastix spp. | Endoparasites |
| Cryptosporidium spp. | Endoparasites |
| Eimeria spp. | Endoparasites |
| Encephalitozoon cuniculi | Endoparasites |
| Entamoeba spp. | Endoparasites |
| Giardia muris | Endoparasites |
| Hymenolepis spp. | Enteric Helminths |
| Myobia musculi | Endoparasites |
| Myocoptes musculinus | Endoparasites |
| Ornithonyssus bacoti | Endoparasites |
| Polyplax spinulosa | Endoparasites |
| Psorergates simplex | Endoparasites |
| Radfordia affinis | Endoparasites |
| Rodentolepis spp. | Enteric Helminths |
| Spironucleus muris | Endoparasites |
| Syphacia spp. | Enteric Helminths |
| Trichomonads | Endoparasites |
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Taconic Corporate Offices
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