Anyone who has ever kept or worked with animals or livestock knows this rule: when an animal gets sick you pull it from the herd, quarantine it alone, in its cage, stall, paddock, in its home – away from the other members of the family/herd. You do this as directed and often as required by law, by the animal health and disease experts so as not to put your, and other, healthy animals at risk. You then treat the sick animal, as directed by the experts, with medicines, fluids, special diets, vaccinations, and isolation until it recovers.

If a neighboring population of animals is stricken with a disease, you quarantine the entire sick population in one location, in their cages, stalls, paddocks, in their homes.
You also quarantine the healthy populations in another location away from the sick population for a time period as set by the animal health and disease experts so as not to put your healthy animal populations at risk of cross-contamination from the sick.

No matter how much barking, braying, bleating, noise, and other raucous vocalizations, and displays of self-centered malcontent some of the quarantined animals may make in their request to rejoin the rest of the herd/pack/family/population…

…you do not under any circumstances give in and mix the sick with the healthy because your experience and common sense and the recommendations from the experts tell you doing so will cause even more sickness, death, and loss.

Once the animals have recovered you then have an expert in animal health that we call a veterinarian (who is a doctor) give the animal(s) a health check and if all checks out, the recovered animal(s) can then be released back into the herd to go on with their business.

We are animals.

We are the herd.

We must listen to the experts.

No matter how uncomfortable and inconvenient it may be.

Be a good human.

Do the right thing.

Follow the rules.

Stay home.