India’s first biosafety level-3 mobile laboratory launched in Maharashtra

The Ministry of Health has said that the mobile laboratory provides a public health solution as it can be easily plied to different places like a normal bus. This laboratory will be able to reach remote and forested areas of the country where specially trained scientists of ICMR can investigate the outbreak using samples from human and animal sources. These activities will ensure timely and on-site diagnosis along with a rapid turnaround time to report these outbreaks.

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Praveen Pawar inaugurated the laboratory and said that the Biosafety Level-3 Mobile Laboratory is a complement to the government’s efforts to strengthen healthcare infrastructure through the Prime Minister’s Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission. There is significant value addition.

He said that the mobile lab will help in real-time data collection which will enable us to ensure quick containment and contain the spread of any emerging viral infection. The laboratory has been designed and built by the Indian Council of Medical Research in collaboration with Mumbai-based biosafety device manufacturer Cleanzads.

Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Dr Balram Bhargava termed the launch of the mobile laboratory as ‘historic’ and said that it is the first mobile BSL-3 laboratory in the South Asia region. The DG recalled that the samples had to be taken to the National Institute of Virology, Pune during the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala.

The Director General of ICMR said, “Then we felt that a mobile laboratory can be of great help during outbreaks of highly infectious pathogens. Such mobile laboratories can be deployed in different regions of the country and can be mobilized in case of sudden outbreaks. Is.”

The Union Health Ministry said the existing infrastructure of BSL-3 laboratories is stable and is dependent on transportation of samples from near and distant places, which often leads to delay in diagnosis. Given the frequent outbreaks of highly contagious pathogens such as Nipah, Zika, Avian Influenza and now COVID, it is important to be able to detect emerging epidemics or pandemics at a very early stage so that rapid containment and prevention of spread can be achieved.

To address this issue, ICMR and Klenzaids joined hands to design and build India’s first mobile BSL-3 advanced laboratory. manufactured at a cost of approx. 25 crore, BSL-3 Augmented Laboratory is a self-sustaining unit, having every system and equipment required for complete standalone operation.

The laboratory is airtight, access-controlled, biodegradable, equipped with safe transformation HEPA (High Efficiency Particle Absorption) filtration and organic liquid waste decontamination systems. The laboratory is controlled through an intelligent control automation system, which maintains the working environment under negative air pressure, maintains equipment parameters and records all necessary data.

(with inputs from agencies)