Change of Quarantine Testing Procedures
Effective date: 5/1/15
It is well-known that animals originating from non-approved sources (such as other universities) present one of the greatest threats to the health integrity of a given rodent colony, making the quarantine period a crucial step in warding off adventitious agents. The LARC, as the health “gatekeeper” for your rodent colony, has traditionally used serology to screen incoming animal shipments. Therefore, effective immediately all quarantine testing will be via PCR. As compared to serology, PCR testing provides the highest degree of accuracy and likelihood that an agent may be found.
Costs of PCR will be slightly higher than serology, but not by much. However, when using PCR, the time in quarantine is greatly reduced from up to six weeks (serology) down to about two weeks (PCR), making animals available to the investigator much sooner. Daily costs of quarantine will increase from $0.85/cage/day to $2.55/cage/day. That said, when taking into account the typical quarantine number of three cages and the greatly reduced time in quarantine, when using PCR technology, the average total cost will only increase from approximately $30 to $38/cage/quarantine period.
Other considerations that can impact quarantine costs are overall number of cages, additional testing for excluded pathogens and treatment (if necessary) for pathogens, etc. We can discuss options and plans prior to receipt of shipment.
| No. of Cages | Cage Per Diem | Avg. # Days * | Cage/Period | |
| Serology (Current) | 1 – 10 | $ 0.85 | 35 | $ 29.75 |
| 11 – 20** | $ 1.70 | 35 | $ 59.50 |
| PCR (New) | 1 – 10 | $ 2.55 | 15 | $ 38.25 |
| 11 – 20** | $ 5.10 | 15 | $ 76.50 |
* = Approximate number of days as these may vary depending on circumstances.
** = We have not had more than 10 cages per group in the last 8 years.
