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Journalism of Courage
HARE KRISHNA Pradhan saw the future way back in December. At a time when non-vegetarian India was still tucking into chicken tikka and poultry-owners riding on an boom, the 61-year-old pathologist was quietly bracing himself for an attack of bird flu.
8216;8216;That is why, when it actually struck, we were ready and quick to diagnose it as avian flu,8217;8217; says Dr Pradhan, who heads the Bhopal-based high security Animal Disease Laboratory, which confirmed the arrival of the flu in India on February 18.
While much of the research into infectious diseases is conducted in labs with level 2 and 3 facilities, Biosafety Level 4 BSL 4 is earmarked for work with dangerous and exotic agents that pose a high individual risk of aerosol-transmitted laboratory infections and life-threatening diseases. Governed by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, the Bhopal lab is authorised to diagnose and support suitable control measures for exotic and emerging animal diseases, which might gain entry into the country .
The laboratory has a sprawling campus of over 135 acres. Estimated to cost Rs 12.66 crore when construction began, delays pushed up the outlay to Rs 22 crore. Interestingly, though it started functioning in 2000, it had been in the works for a quarter-century.
AS a non-negotiable rule, containment labs such as these have to be isolated, on an island, for example, or be surrounded by another building. In Bhopal, the sensitive area is sunk below the ground and is distinguished by special engineering and design features to prevent micro-organisms from being disseminated into the environment.
Scientists and staff have to follow a punishing drill to enter and exit the laboratory. While getting in is relatively hassle-free8212;it simply involves changing into sterilised clothing8212;the way out is punctuated by three showers 40 litres of water each time at 37 degree C.
8216;8216;The door simply won8217;t open if anyone tries to cut corners,8217;8217; Pradhan says. 8216;8216;And you can8217;t bring in even a sheet of paper. The only things to have unrestricted entry are e-mails and landline phone calls.8217;8217;
That8217;s not all. Not a drop of water leaves the premises without sterilisation at 121 degree C. The lab air is always kept under negative pressure to ensure that air flows in the lab8217;s direction and not the other way in case a door is accidentally unsealed.
The testing equipment is not very different from that in other ICAR laboratories. It8217;s the building specifications that sets the Bhopal facility apart. The walls, floors and ceilings of the cabinet room and inner change room are constructed to form a sealed internal shell which facilitates fumigation and is resistant to entry and exit of animals and insects.
The floors are integrally sealed and the internal surfaces of this shell are resistant to liquids and chemicals to facilitate cleaning and decontamination. All penetrations in these structures and surfaces are sealed. Worktops have have seamless or sealed surfaces that are impervious to water and are resistant to moderate heat and the organic solvents, acids, alkalis and chemicals used to decontaminate the work surfaces and equipment.
And soon, all scientists working in will soon get special positive pressure suits, equipped with a gas cylinder and a mask. Each suit costs Rs 2.5 lakh. And, following special grants from the government, the lab will soon have an electron microscope, an automatic sequencer, a gel document system to visualise DNA and a specific pathogen-free facility.
NONE of this, of course, comes without attendant responsibilities. Ever since the lab confirmed avian influenza in samples from Navapur, the facility here have been receiving between 5,000-6,000 samples every week. A team of 14 scientists, including senior research fellows and research associates appointed recently, are working on avian influenza.
The scientists are recruited by the Agricultural Scientist Recruitment Board, which works under the ICAR. The basic qualification for getting a job with the prestigious laboratory is a master8217;s degree in Veterinary Science; specialisations in microbiology, pathology, immunology and biotechnology are preferred. A fresher draws approximately Rs 20,000 a month while Pradhan, who is retiring in March 2007, draws close to Rs 55,000 per month.
If there8217;s one grievance that Pradhan nurses, it is the non-publication of his research paper on the Real Time PCR test, considered a thousand times more sensitive than a conventional test for the diagnosis of bird flu. After a reputed Indian journal rejected his paper, the US-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention developed similar technology and published it in February this year.
But the miss has only deepened Pradhan8217;s determination that his work will not go unnoticed. 8216;8216;I will improve the test further and make the journal publish it,8217;8217; he says, while declining to name the journal.
And as if his hands weren8217;t already full, Pradhan says the lab is now working on a bird flu vaccine. 8216;8216;We are confident that we will be able to develop it soon,8217;8217; he says.
BATTLE FRONT
BHOPAL beat Bangalore to become the site for the Animal Disease Laboratory after scoring the highest in a stringent 120-parameter criteria test. The city is centrally located and well connected by rail and road. It is not part of a seismic zone, has rocky soil to allow strong foundations for the laboratory, moderate temperatures, adequate distance from rivers to minimise chances of flooding, does not record high rainfall, is not dusty and has sufficient underground water level.
IN THE EYEPIECE
Surveillance of avian influenza is the major preoccupation of the lab at the moment, but also under the microscope are:
raquo; Pestivirus infections of small ruminants
raquo; Molecular characterisation of bovine immunodeficiency virus proviral DNA
raquo; Molecular diagnosis and pathology of pseudorabies Aujeszk8217;y disease virus infection in porcine and non-porcine species
raquo; Development of monoclonal antibody-based immunoassay for diagnosis of avian influenza
raquo; Development of phage display recombinant antibodies against recombinant viral antigens and their use of immunodiagnosis
NO ENTRY
2003
Malignant Catarrhal Fever and Bovine Viral Diarrhoea exotic strain in cattle: Under the National Project for Breeding of Buffalo and Cattle, a consignment of animals was imported from Australia. Within three days, tests at HSADL found that a number of imported animals were infected with Bovine Viral Diarrhoea and Malignant Catarrhal.
2001
Rabbit Haemorrhage disease: 150 rabbits imported by the Textile Ministry under an Angora wool programme were killed following positive test results from the lab
Avian Influenza in poultry: Findings were communicated to the Centre which led to culling of imported pigeons
