Specific pathogen free (SPF)
These animals are free of one or more parasites or infectious micro organisms. The absence of these agents is important to the conduct of many types of research or testing. SPF animals can be further subdivided into two categories depending upon how their health status was determined and the type of agents excluded.
Conditioned SPF: These are animals that have undergone testing, treatment and/or vaccination to ensure the absence of one or more parasites or microbial agents. The agents are most commonly of human or agricultural significance or are species-specific infectious agents that are capable of producing significant clinical disease or research effects. Conditioned SPF animals are often not maintained in specialized housing t