Quarantine and Isolation

- Introduction

This guideline is designed to provide some general information on animal quarantine requirements in Egypt. The term quarantine refers to the practice of enforced isolation of animals exposed or may be exposed to infectious agents, as well as the place in which these animals are isolated and the time period of isolation. Quarantine is routinely required when live animals or their products are imported. To avoid disease entry into a country, region, zone, compartment, or population, potentially infectious animals/material must be isolated until they have been shown to be disease free.

Enforced isolation is the first biocontainment step when potentially infected animals are brought to a production setting. Movement within or through the control area is restricted and monitored. The size/nature of the control zone depends on disease risk but usually involves a containment facility, farm, site, or complex within a particular area. The control zone may be expanded to a 2-mile radius for diseases of national/regional importance.

Establishing and maintaining a disease-free status throughout the country should be the final goal of the veterinary authorities as well as owners of animal facilities. However, given the difficulty of achieving this goal, there may be benefits to Egypt in establishing and maintaining a subpopulation with a specific health status within its territories for the purposes of international trade or disease prevention or control.