1. Service Units
  2. Research Integrity & Compliance
  3. Animal Research
  4. Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
  5. IACUC Approved Policies
  6. Reporting Unexpected or Unusual Morbidity and Mortality
  • uconn health
Page content relevant to:

Reporting Unexpected or Unusual Morbidity and Mortality

Purpose

In order to comply with Federal Regulations (USDA and PHS) and the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, the UConn Health’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) has established a policy on requirements for reporting unusual or unexpected morbidity and/or mortality in a research project.

Action

  1. If, during the course of a research project, any unusual animal deaths or significant health related problems occur, the Principal Investigator must report the incident within 72 hours from time of discovery to the IACUC (via the IACUC Coordinator) and the Director of the Center for Comparative Medicine (CCM). The Attending Veterinarian should also report any incidences of unusual animal illnesses and deaths to the IACUC via the IACUC Coordinator when they are discovered during review of animal morbidity and mortality reports.  This includes the discovery of any unanticipated pain, distress, or lethality of transgenic/gene-targeted animal lines.
  2. It is at the discretion of the Attending Veterinarian what action, immediate or otherwise, is needed to prevent, reduce, or minimize any further animal suffering. This may include removal of the animal(s) from the study and/or euthanasia of the remaining animal(s).
  3. There should be a combined effort of the IACUC, the Attending Veterinarian, and the Principal Investigator to arrive at a workable plan to prevent further morbidity and mortality for the duration of the research project.

Effective Dates:   December 1, 2022 through December 31, 2025