How Can I Improve My Home Quarantine Protocol? Ask a Senior Vet Student!

I have personally encountered this topic of discussion on more than one occasion and the real beauty of quarantine protocols, both at home and in the clinic, is that you can tailor them to the needs of your facility based on the degree of bio-security you wish to employ relative to the size, value and purpose of your collection. More importantly, consideration must be given to the nature of the organisms you are attempting to exclude from your collection.

A person can easily "Go All Out" to set up an effective quarantine protocol and although in general, we tend to feel better knowing that we have state of the art equipment and a facility equipped with special toys, but does this really ensure that we have done our best to protect the individuals of interest from exposure to disease? The answer is no!

A person can buy all the fancy toys in the world and still effectively spread deadly diseases throughout their entire collection. What matters most are the techniques that are employed while handling the individuals in quarantine. Some of the most effective quarantine procedures are those that amount to minimal expenses to the quarantine manager and for three very good reasons. One, this saves the owner money that they don't need to spend. Two, the money saved can be used later to manage medical expenses if the animals in your quarantine develop clinical signs and/or require treatment/euthanasia. Three, the amount of stuff present in your quarantine area directly equates to the to the amount of stuff that can become contaminated. If forgotten, such items may be put to use later, thus infecting your entire collection. In short, the less stuff you have to use the better off your are.

So when does a given quarantine end? Does it end when are sure the animal appears healthy?

What if the animal is unhealthy and begins to develop severe clinical signs? What next?

Does anyone have a successful quarantine protocol that would like to share some of their experiences?

What has worked for you?

What hasn't worked for you?

Are there any problems you may have encountered along the way?

How did you manage some of those problems and did your solution work for you?