Health Minister flags off mobile testing unit

Health Minister flags off mobile testing unit

The Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) under the Union Department of Biotechnology has rolled out a fully-equipped mobile virology testing laboratory, strengthening the efforts to contain the Nipah virus infection reported from parts of Kozhikode district.

Health Minister Veena George flagged off the mobile lab in front of the Kerala Assembly complex here on Thursday.

Lauding RGCB for stepping in to significantly help the Nipah containment efforts by rolling out such a critical facility, she said it would enable more samples to be tested quickly.

“Biosafety Level 2 (BSL) plus Level 3 practices can be done in the lab where two machines will be working simultaneously. At any given point of time, each machine can handle around 96 samples and a total of 192 samples can be tested in the two machines,” she said.

RGCB Director Chandrabhas Narayana said the services of a group of six experts would be available in the mobile unit, which can give results within six hours after testing the samples. “The facility will be deployed right at the containment zone. Any small number of samples can also be tested to provide results quickly,” Prof Narayana said.

He said like a BSL 3 facility, the mobile lab has a double airlock system and features onboard decontamination and biological waste processing capabilities. It can perform testing for bacteria, fungi, and other pathogenic organisms, as well as assess food quality. The lab is tethered through the Internet to RGCB for speedy data analysis and dissemination of results immediately upon authorisation.

Principal Secretary, Health, Mohammed Hanish, was present on the occasion.