Moving away from soiled bedding sentinels—The (R)evolution in rodent health screening (2023)

Esparza, K.

Abstract

Traditional health monitoring methods consist of Soiled Bedding Sentinels (SBS), with animals exposed to dirty bedding from colony animals, which require the euthanasia of SBS. Numerous studies have demonstrated that SBS may not accurately represent a colony's health status. During the last decade, researchers have proposed alternative sentinel-free methods to monitor the health status of rodents. These alternative methods are discussed.