Animal Import and Quarantine

Animal Import & Quarantine

Acquiring and Housing Vertebrates

All vertebrate animals, from any outside source brought into UCLA, must be approved by the Campus Veterinarian in the Division of Laboratory Animal Medicine (DLAM).  Animals purchased from an approved vendor will be processed through the DLAM Procurement office using eSirius.  All animals from vendors with restrictions must be imported through the DLAM Biosecurity Office via an Animal Shipping Request.  Housing arrangements must be assigned before placing an animal import .  Contact: DLAM Operations Director for more information.  Live vertebrate animals cannot be purchased or otherwise acquired until a fully approved protocol is on file with the Animal Research Committee (ARC).  All import requests will be reviewed first by the ARC for protocol approval and compliance.  Please review the policy for Acquiring and Housing Vertebrate Animals: Visit the Acquiring and Housing Vertebrate Animals policy. 

Imports

All import requests must be submitted at least 21 days before the scheduled arrival date.  This does not guarantee the animals will be approved for arrival within the requested time.  You will not be able to submit an Animal Shipping Request unless you provide all the required fields.  The lab contact will be the name listed on the cage card.  The lab contact needs to be listed on the protocol.  This person will serve as the primary point of contact for health-related cases.  An import fee will be billed to the account number provided.  The import fees can be found under Rodent Surveillance on the Per Diem Rate Sheet. 

• The sending Investigator/Lab is responsible for recovering any shipment expenses from the Destination Institution, when indicated. 

All email communication should be sent to DLAM Animal Shipping at dlamasr@mednet.ucla.edu.

Submit DLAM Import Request

Quarantine 

Upon arrival at UCLA, all animals will enter a quarantine period lasting approximately 4–5 weeks to receive prophylactic treatments and undergo additional testing to confirm that their pathogen status meets institutional standards.  During this time, samples will be sent to the lab for analysis, and the animals will remain in a restricted area while awaiting results. 
To prevent potential contamination, access to the quarantine room will be limited, and animals will not be transferred to their final housing until the test results have been reviewed. 

• Once animals have passed quarantine period, allow 72 hours to complete final transfer to desired housing location.