What is my responsibility if the mutant strain that I made becomes infected with a pathogen at some point during its generation and breeding?
It is advisable that research animals be maintained in a facility that has an adequate health monitoring program or that investigators state a basic list of pathogens that must be tested for in any facility. Animals known to be infected with pathogens or from a colony known to harbor pathogens should not be distributed unless the recipient is notified and has facilities to quarantine and/or rederive the animals, because disease status can alter the results of experiments. Should the investigator become aware that the research organisms became infected during their creation and generation, the investigator should take steps to eliminate the infection. Stock centers and national repositories have routine quarantine and acquisition policies that are designed to detect and eliminate infection.
