The Division of Animal Resources operates a rodent quarantine
service to facilitate the transfer of rodents of unique
genotype to the university for research while also protecting
existing colonies from infection. As any disease outbreak
on campus could be catastrophic to many research studies,
an effective quarantine program is critical in protecting
these resources. Components of this program include: (1)
approval by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee,
(2) controlled acquisition procedures, (3) preliminary
definition of animal health status, (4) isolation and determination
of definitive health status, and (5) treatment and rederivation.
The program is relatively lengthy and costly. If the desired
rodent genotype is available from an approved commercial
source (The Jackson Laboratories, Charles River Laboratories,
Inc., Harlan Sprague-Dawley, Inc., Taconic Farms), it is
more economical to acquire from those sources rather than
moving animals through the quarantine program.
Approval by the Animal Care and Use Committee
Rodents may only be transferred to the university for use on an approved IACUC protocol. The IACUC does not permit the acquisition of animals by investigators who do not have approved research proposals.
Acquisition Procedures
It is university policy that all animal acquisitions
be managed by the Division of Animal Resources. All vertebrate
animals, regardless of their species, source or use, must
be acquired by completing an animal order form. In the
case of animals imported from other countries or other
academic or research institutions, the animal order form
is completed on your behalf by the veterinary staff. The
following minimum information is needed to process an animal
order: (1) approved IACUC number, (2) Emory account number,
(3) the genotype and nomenclature of the mice, (4) information
regarding special care, (5) scientist/owner at the source
institution (name, telephone, fax, email), (6) shipping
contact at the source institution (name, telephone, fax,
email), and (7) attending veterinarian at the source institution
(name, telephone, fax, email). This information should
be provided in the "DAR A-3 form" available
by facsimile from the DAR office (7-3248).
Summary
The intent of the quarantine program is to facilitate research by protecting valuable research colonies from infection. Although the financial implications of the program may appear high, the cost of reducing the risk of infection is low when measured against the catastrophic consequences of infection that would require imposition of quarantine procedures, extensive depopulation of mice or expensive surgical rederivations.
