RGCB lab offers to test samples for dreaded virus

KOCHI: In the wake of a positive confirmation for Nipah virus in Kerala, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) in the state which has bio-safety level 3 testing facility for Nipah virus has offered to conduct tests to detect the virus.
“RGCB can test samples for Nipah virus at existing bio-safety (BS) level 3 facility. We have stocked the required six reagents for tests to detect Nipah,” RGCB director Prof M Radhakrishna Pillai told TOI.When asked about testing costs, he said, irrespective of the costs incurred, RGCB is willing to conduct tests free of cost in an emergency situation which is crucial to control the disease. If the Centre approves, then RGCB can set up BS4 lab facility in the 20 acre complex at Akkulam, he said.
Existing BS3 facility will suffice for diagnostics of test samples for the virus, Radhakrishna Pillai said. Though RGCB had submitted a proposal to set up a BS4 facility which would incur an investment of Rs 100 crore, it is yet to be approved by the Centre. Installing a BS4 facility can help in advanced viral research, he said. It will incur huge maintenance costs, once initiated it cannot be switched off and it has to be operational 24/7 during all 365 days in a protective high bio-safety enclave, he said.
Currently, two BS4 testing facilities are in the country including National Institute of Virology at Pune and Defence research lab at Bhopal. Yet, RGCB’s BS3 testing facility with in-vitro diagnostic certified machine for detection of all virus except Ebola is the only government lab in the country with three key certifications. “RGCB lab is the only facility in the country which has National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) for testing all viral samples except Ebola,” RGCB senior scientist of molecular diagnostics Radhakrishnan R said.