In response to the needs for improved standards of bio-containment, individual ventilated cages (IVCs) have been developed. These cages provide a protected environment for animals and are of great assistance in containing airborne contaminants. As the number of transgenic animals has increased, IVCs have become more popular because of the possibilities they offer in the prevention of cross-contamination and their capability to house small groups of animals of differing sources in close proximity without compromising their health status.This paper will compare IVCs with flexible film isolators. Historically flexible film isolators have been the method of choice for housing animals of a defined health status such as gnotobiotic and germ free animals. The isolator was devel oped by Trexler and Reyniers during World War Ⅱ for the study of scrub typhus. Today the perception of using isolators for animal housing is still often met with the assumption that isolators are difficult to use and expensive to operate.At B&K Universal Limited we use both isolators and IVCs depending on the particular need. This paper will present a practical comparison of the two methods of containment.
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