The Mumbai-based Haffkine Institute's Bio Safety Level (BSL)3 laboratory, which is the ideal lab for H1N1 influenza flu virus testing, will be ready for operation as soon as the lab is in the last phase of development. The government has invested around Rs 4.5 crore for the upgradation of the laboratory which will enable it to handle research and testing of dangerous pathogens like influenza virus that can spread even through air.

BSL3 Lab will be in an isolated area from the main building since it will be exclusively dedicated for testing and research of the avian flu. The lab will start operating once all equipments and instruments meet the required quality standards for operation and performance.

Dr Abhay Chowdhary, director, Haffkine Institute for Training, Research and Testing said that the lab will be completed in another two to three months, after which the lab will go through various testings. Once this procedure is over, the lab will be ready for testing commercial samples and samples received from the government hospitals.

Currently, swine flu causing H1N1 influenza flu virus is being tested in Haffkine Institute’s BSL 2 laboratory. However, H1N1 testing should be ideally done in a BSL3 lab because of the highly virulent nature of the pandemic virus. It also points to the fact that there is a need to increase the number of BSL3 labs in India so that the country is better prepared in the wake of any future flu outbreaks. The BSL3 level laboratory is used to test animal pathogens, haemorrhagic fever viruses, philo viruses, Bacillus anthracis, SARS coronavirus, yellow fever virus, equine encephalitis virus and arbovirus.

The lab is expected to be operational by August 2010, after clearing the Installation Qualification (IQ)/ Operational Qualification (OQ) and Performance Verification (PQ) of equipment and instruments since it is a vital link in the quality chain and one of the major areas of focus for both FDA or any other regulatory body. The BASL lab and its equipments are sponsored and supplied by the Central Government. The process of installing the equipment has already begun.

This year is going to be special for the institute in many way as it is gearing up for celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Dr Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine in whose name the Institute was named in 1925.