India will soon have a facility to contain the most dangerous organisms known to mankind with heightened security.
Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad will inaugurate the first-ever Bio-Safety Level-IV facility in Pune on Friday.
This will be the first ever such laboratory in Asia. The BSL-4 facilities contain the most dangerous organisms such as Ebola and weaponised anthrax (regular anthrax, which can be treated). Specifically constructed to contain these organisms with heightened security, BSL-4 facilities have special air filtration systems, many airlocks, and ultraviolet-lit rooms. The level 4 rooms are kept at a lower pressure than the surrounding environment so, in the event of a break in the system, air will flow in, not out.
At present, four BSL-4 installations are in operation in the US in Ft. Detrick in Frederick, Maryland (Department of Homeland Security); Atlanta, Georgia (Centres for Disease Control); and Hamilton, Montana (Rocky Mountain Laboratory, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) and in Boston.
The laboratory system has its own restrictions for the researchers. The Researchers in Level 4 labs must change clothes and shower many times before and after handling the organisms, and must wear full biohazard suits while working. In US, the researchers are very experienced at working with other types of dangerous organisms and undergo thorough training, and no research is conducted alone. The research is always done under the supervision of the lab director.
The heightened security is necessary because the organisms are so dangerous; they are usually transmitted by air, lethal to humans, and have no vaccines or cures. Furthermore, research sometimes focuses on engineering weaponised organisms, making them even more deadly.