Inducting a newly purchased animal into the herd

Quarantine (Isolating the animal)

  • The newly purchased animal should be kept in isolation without contact with the other animals atleast for 3 weeks. One should attend to the newly purchased animal only after attending the herd.
  • Avoid attending to your herd after contact with the newly purchased animal without proper washing and cloth change.
  • Carry out routine deworming, fluke treatment (based on endemicity) and vaccination during the period of quarantine.
  • For lactating animals, milk the newly purchased animal separately and only after milking all the other animals in the herd.
  • Always  adopt an “all-in all-out” system, clean and disinfect the quarantine area before inducting another animal(s).

Testing during quarantine
The following tests should be performed while in quarantine.

  1. For in-milk animals,  test for sub-clinical mastitis (SCM)– If found positive,  they should be treated and retested till negative results are obtained. In case these animals do not become negative for SCM on subsequent tests, they are most probably chronically infected.
  2. Test for brucella
  3. Test for bovine TB (bTB)
  4. Test for Johne’s Disease (JD)

If the animals are positive to any of the above tests, it should not be inducted into your herd. Maintain these animals separately  and dispose off at the earliest. There is no cure for these diseases and these are easily transmitted to healthy animals on contact. The following regional laboratories may be contacted for further information:
Note: An animal testing negative does not necessarily mean it is free from disease

For Northern region

  1. Joint Director, Centre for Animal Disease Research  and Diagnosis (CADRAD), Indian Veterinary  Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar–  243122
  2. Joint Director and In-charge Northern Regional Disease Diagnostic  Laboratory, Jallandhar, Punjab

For Eastern region

  1. Joint Director Eastern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Kolkata-700 037
  2. Deputy Director North Eastern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory Khanapura, Guwahati-781 022

For Southern region

  1. Joint Director Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals Hebbal,- Bangalore - 24

For Western region

  1. Joint Director Western Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory Aundh, Pune-411 007
  • The local veterinarian should be contacted for taking samples for the test or testing the animals (bTB/JD) and for any other advise. Many State animal husbandry departments also do the tests in their laboratories.

                                             Proper quarantine will protect your herd from diseases