Question: What is the point of quarantine procedure?

[Rupert]

First of all, I apologize for the provocative title- I am not trying to question the necessity nor the importance of good quarantine practice.

However I am curious if simple quarantine methods described in the CC article(Caudata Culture Articles - Quarantine and Disinfection) can really prevent the introduction of potentially aquarium-wiping diseases.

The standard practice is a month long quarantine to see if the animal is sick or stressed.

However, does the lengthy quarantine period do anything to bacteria/virus/fungus that are not fatal to the host but just waiting to be spread in the newly introduced tank?

Serious fishkeepers use a bunch of medication in their quarantine tank for new arrivals to rid of any disease transmission via methylene blue and furan-2. This hopefully kills any parasites/bacteria/fungi that may be tagging on the new individual.

However I have not yet seen any article that suggests such practice on caudates.

This could mean 2 things;

a) Potential risk of liberal medication is much worse than the risk of pathogen introduction as long as the new individual seems relatively healthy;

or

b) As long as the new individual does not show any symptoms of diseases/bacteria/fungi/parasites during the quarantine period, it can be assumed that the new individual is free of all these harmful things.


However, I don't think that bacteria or virus just die out in a quarantine environment without any medical/chemical intervention. Maybe they can be reduced, but there is always a chance that there could be a pathogen harmless to the new individual which could prove fatal for the inhabitants of my established tank.

I had a colleague who lost a whole tank of Neurergus Crocatus after introducing another Neurergus Crocatus, albeit from a different source. All the newts started dropping dead in a matter of days, which points to a deadly disease introduction. There was no substantial quarantine period(which is partly the keeper's negligence), but then again, would 4 weeks of quarantine really remove the dangers of the pathogen?

I guess in most cases the new individual would show the symptoms in a time period of a month, but what if the new individual has resistance to that certain pathogen while the tankmates do not? Doesn't it spell doom on a luck's whim?

I was hoping if I could get some insight on the matter, especially whether if I should medicate/disinfect any new individual that is to be introduced into an already populated tank as a part of quarantine procedure.

And if broad-spectrum medication is to be used during the quarantine procedure, what medications/dosages would you recommend?

Thanks for your time.

 

[michael]

A month long quarantine is to check abnormal behavior and obvious health problems. It does not reveal all health problems. A more accurate check would be a fecal test, Bsal test, and Ranavirus test.

 

[michael]

Probably the new Neurergus was carrying something that doomed the established tank mates. What if the established tank mates were carrying something? The new tankmate was stressed from moving and more susceptible to the disease in the tank. The new tank mate caught the disease and infected the old tank mates at a higher level or his death spiked the tank.

Had he been quarantined it probably would have averted a disaster in either scenario. For prophylactic treatment where I suspect a bacteria, virus, or fungus problem I always use Furan 2. I normally don't treat if nothing is suspected.

 

[Rupert]

Probably the new Neurergus was carrying something that doomed the established tank mates. What if the established tank mates were carrying something? The new tankmate was stressed from moving and more susceptible to the disease in the tank. The new tank mate caught the disease and infected the old tank mates at a higher level or his death spiked the tank.

Had he been quarantined it probably would have averted a disaster in either scenario. For prophylactic treatment where I suspect a bacteria, virus, or fungus problem I always use Furan 2. I normally don't treat if nothing is suspected.

Thank you Michael, that was what I curious about.
Regarding fecal examinations and rananvirus/BSal check, how would a layman manage to test for them? Would vets without any amphibian specialty(there are none in Korea that I know of) be able to identify them? Should I try and contact local universities?


As for the Neurergus, the introduced specimen managed to escape first and die a horrible death....,further complicating the investigation of the issue.

Here is the original thread of you are interested : http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...s-neurergus/102586-reason-crocatus-death.html

 

[michael]

I have no idea where you would get tests in Korea. Bsal is a hot topic and their are lots of researchers working on it. Maybe their is a researcher in Korea working on it but I have my doubts.
In the U.S. I can send swabs to commercial labs and or researchers to be tested or Bsal and ranavirus. I can send fecals off to labs or get a local exotic vet to do an exam.

 

[Rupert]

I have no idea where you would get tests in Korea. Bsal is a hot topic and their are lots of researchers working on it. Maybe their is a researcher in Korea working on it but I have my doubts.
In the U.S. I can send swabs to commercial labs and or researchers to be tested or Bsal and ranavirus. I can send fecals off to labs or get a local exotic vet to do an exam.

Thank you for the information
I'll share with the community if I manage to find any vets or facilities that are capable....